Code Geass: The Alchemists of the EU
by CalamitasWrath
Summary: A different Geass order given to Euphemia, her getting shot at the opening ceremony of the SAZ, the Black Rebellion starting under different circumstances – and the unexpected interference of the EU's military, and their State Alchemists.
1. Prologue: The Day the Future Changed

**Author's Note:**  
I never would've thought that the day would come that I would post this. And yet, here I am, posting my first real attempt at writing fan fiction. . .  
Well, enough of the pointless rambling.  
To whoever may end up reading this: Thanks for checking this out, and enjoy the prologue!

* * *

_Aside from our own time line, there exist many different time lines in which history differs greatly from ours.  
In most of these time lines, there would be no point in telling this story, either because we already experienced most of it ourselves, or because it was already told.  
This story however is different._

_In this alternate history, things have really been going well for the British Empire._  
_During the times of the Roman Empire, the Celtics living on the British Islands were able to keep the Romans almost completely off their land._  
_Several centuries later, during the early Middle Ages, an highly energetic material, which would later be known as "Sakuradite" was discovered._  
_In those times, it was referred to as "Philosopher's Stone"._

_Another few centuries later, the British were able to stop the American Revolution, in this world known as "Washington's Rebellion", by getting Benjamin Franklin on their side._  
_This victory was however followed by the loss of the British Islands. They were conquered by Napoleon, forcing the British Nobility to flee to the colonies, where they established their new state, known as The Holy Britannian Empire._  
_Napoleon meanwhile managed to bring all of Europe under French rule, under which it would remain for several decades._

_This only changed when a Prussian noble named Otto von Bismarck rebelled against the French rule, and eventually completely overthrew it by uniting forces from all over Europe against the common enemy, and making use of the newly re-discovered science of Alchemy._  
_He then founded the Great German state in the center of Europe, as well as an union of all European - the EU, the "European Union"._  
_Britannia meanwhile conquered all of the American continent, crushing any resistance of natives, and bringing them under their rule._  
_Over the years, the conflict between the The Holy Britannian Empire, the EU, and the world's third major superpower, the Chinese Federation continued, and several wars were fought between them, some major, some minor. None of these wars however upset the balance of power._  
_But while the EU and the Chinese Federations mostly remained within their borders, Britannia started conquering independent nations as colonies, stripping them of their names and renaming them as numbered "Areas", oppressing their citizens, treating them like second-rate humans. Any attempts at riots were quelled._

_But then, in 2010 a.t.b. things started to change._  
_In this year, 98th emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia, banished two of his own children, Lelouch and Nunally vi Britannia, to Japan, due to Lelouch calling him out on doing nothing in response to his mother's death. His mother was killed in a terrorist attack, which also left Nunally blind and crippled._  
_Only a few months later, Britannia invaded Japan, aiming to claim it as "Area 11". The reasons for this lay in the fact that Japan was the world's biggest resource for sakuradite, which was the main source of power for Britannia's newly developed super-weapons, the Knightmare Frames – humanoid robots, piloted by humans._  
_Japan was under Britannian rule in less then a month._

_And filled with nothing but hatred towards his father, Lelouch vi Britannia, surviving the war, vowed to his newly-found friend, Suzaku Kururugi, son of the last Japanese Prime Minister, to destroy Britannia._  
_Seven years later, something happened that would further these plans._  
_After a series of rather unfortunate events, Lelouch was reunited with his first and best friend, Suzaku Kururugi, who had joined the Britannian army in hopes of changing the system from within._  
_The reunion, however, was short-lived, and not long after thei reunion each of them again thought the other was dead._

_But both survived. And while Lelouch gained a power called "Geass" from a mysterious girl called C.C., which in his case allowed him to give a person any order he wanted, Suzaku was made the pilot of the experimental 7th generation Knightmare Frame, the Lancelot. While both learned that the other survived shortly after, neither of them was aware of the others new identity._  
_In the time following this, Lelouch took the identity of the masked freedom fighter Zero to form his own army, the Black Knights, his "Knights of Justice". Suzuku on the other hand gained the trust of the Britannian army, and eventually even became the personal knight of Area 11's sub-viceroy, Euphemia li Britannia, Lelouch's half-sister._

_The battle between the Black Knights and Britannia waged back and forth, with the Black Knights steadily increasing their influence and power while avoiding any open confrontation with Britannia._  
_But then everything changed, when Euphemia li Britannia, after learning Zero's true identity, announced the Special Administrative Zone of Japan, an area in which Japanese would have the same rights as Britannians, and were free people._  
_In many possible time lines, Lelouch would end up accidentally using his Geass on Euphemia to order her to kill all the Japanese, one way or another._  
_This story, however, is different.  
_

* * *

**-0-  
**

* * *

****"I have an important announcement to make."

It was the day of the school festival at Ashford Academy, and so far it was a rather light-hearted and easy-going day (minus a few more serious moments) for Lelouch Lamperouge, member of Ashford's student council, and secretly Zero leader of the rebel group known as "The Order of the Black Knights", an organization fighting for Japan's freedom.  
However, as he now was watching his half-sister Euphemia li Britannia standing in the hands of the third-generation Knightmare Frame Ganymede, (which was, amusingly enough, intended to be used to create the world's biggest pizza today at the festival) preparing to talk to the reporters in the crowd in front of her, Lelouch got the distinct feeling that this day was about to become a lot more serious.  
Hiding behind a stand together with his younger sister Nunnally, he waited for Euphemia to continue.

"This is Deputy Viceroy Euphemia, of the Holy Britannian Empire. I have something I would like to tell all of you. I, Euphemia li Britannia, hereby declare the establishment of The Special Administrative Zone of Japan around Mount Fuji!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd exploded into chatter. The reactions within it ranged from joy to anger to outright fear in at least one case. Lelouch meanwhile was only shocked.

"What?! Britannia is acknowledging Japan's existance?" He wondered aloud, while Euphemia continued her speech.

"Within this special district of Japan, the Elevens will be returned to their true name of Japanese. All restrictions on Elevens' actions as well as special Britannian privileges will be overruled in said area. Britannian and Japanese will exist as equal!"

Realizing what she was actually meaning, Lelouch started to become enraged._"Stop it, Euphy."_ He thought to himself. _"I have thought of that already. It's just a dream. It'll never work!"_

"Can you hear me, Zero? I question neither your past, nor your identity, so please, be a part of the new Japan!"

This caused murmur within the crowd.  
"Zero? He shot Clovis!"  
"I guess she really has a thing for Japanese, just look at her knight..."

"Zero, join me, and create a new future from within Britannia!"

"Long live Euphemia!" The people shouted in unison, now suddenly all sharing the same opinion.

However, while everybody else was cheering for Euphemia, Lelouch was simply furious, his mind racing.  
_"I'm done for. No matter which side I chose, the Black Knights are history! I've lost my life's pursuit. How could this have happened so easily?! So that's how you plan to take all I have, our sanctuary included?! If so, then you are truly blind and deaf. I am a masked terrorist, and you..."_ Euphemia, having discovered his hiding place already earlier, was now looking directly at him, a friendly expression on her face. He could almost imagine her saying to him in her usual, cheerful tone:  
_"Lelouch, it can be just like before!"  
"No."_ He 'replied'.  
_"It can NEVER be the same, Euphemia!"_

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

****"Special Administrative Zone? Racial Equality? I'll never accept it!"  
A few days had passed since Euphemia's announcement. Lelouch was together with Rivalz in the Tokyo Settlement, where they saw a Britannian nobleman hit a child that was advertising the SAZ with his cane, obviously being hurt in his pride.  
"You think we're equal? Obey your elders and superiors, Eleven slime!" He shouted.

Following a sudden urge, Lelouch decided to walk up to the noble. "Indeed, that is the true goal of the Sub-Viceroy's noble plan."

"Who are you?" The nobleman asked, confused at seeing a student daring to interrupt him.

"It must feel good to look down on another as you do." Lelouch meanwhile continued, completely ignoring the noble's question.

At that point, the noble's bodyguard decided to intervene. "That's close enough, kid. Step back."

Lelouch however wasn't willing to leave this scene just yet. "You should be going home, shouldn't you?" He asked the bodyguard, making use of his Geass of Absolute Obedience.

"That's true. I'll get going then." The man answered, a barely visible red ring forming around his pupils, while he was walking off.

This only served to make the nobleman both more angry and more confused. "What?! Hey, what are you doing?! Get back here!"

"What's the matter, Mr Nobleman? It seems like you mistake an hired hand's strength for your own." Lelouch continued to lecture the noble, while activating his Geass to give another order. "You should just go off and d-" Before he could actually give the order, a sudden strong pain shot through his eye, making him clutch it. "What...? What's with my Geass?"

Before he could give it however any further thought, Rivalz entered the scene, trying to end things more peacefully. "Why don't we just leave it at that? Maybe you should apologize, dude."

"Impudent cad! I am-" The noble tried to protest, but Lelouch cut him off. "Get lost!"

Obviously having had enough, the noble followed this order, without Lelouch having to use his Geass. And while the kid that the noble had been hitting was thanking them, Lelouch started thinking.

"Suzaku... Euphy... if you could see this, would you still believe that the SAZ can solve all of our problems? You would probably both just say that people just need time to get used to the thought of equality...  
But I can't let it get this far! I need the Black Knights! Zero needs to be the symbol of hope for the Japanese people! I need to destroy Britannia!"

* * *

-0-

* * *

When Lelouch finally arrived back home at Ashford Academy's student council clubhouse, Nunnally was waiting for him, as usual. Despite her ignorance of her brother's true identity, she felt that something was wrong.

"Are you worried about something?" she asked. "Euphy, perhaps? I don't want to insist on seeing her again. I don't want to cause you and Euphy any trouble..."

Lelouch however didn't answer his sister's question, and instead, asked her something himself. "Do you like Euphy?"

Nunnally's answer came without any hesitation. "Yeah. You do too, don't you?"

"Yes..." He said after a short moment of hesitation on his part, before continuing on his thoughts.  
_"I did. But that was before she tried to replace Zero as the symbol of hope for the Japanese. Euphemia... you won't take this away from me! Zero will become a Messiah to the people, even if it means using my Geass on you!"_

* * *

-0-

* * *

**EU Central Command  
Berlin, Great Germany  
3:45 AM, Local Time**

It was an historical day. Today, on September 1st, 1962 AD, or 2017 a.t.b. if one were to go by the calendar used by the Holy Britannian Empire, said empire would do something unprecedented in its entire history: Giving the citizens of one of its areas rights equal to that of the Britannians within a special zone. For that special occasion all of the European heads of states had gathered in the EU's Central Command in Berlin, watching the ceremony life, despite the ten-hour time difference, due to which it was still night in Europe.

They all had been gathered around one long table, men and woman alike, regardless of nationality, all of them wearing suits that gave them the distinct look of politicians – except for one man, who was sitting alone at the end of the long table, the only one directly facing the screen on the other side of the room, with his one eye that wasn't covered by an eyepatch. The man was wearing the blue uniform reserved to the German members of the EU's collective military forces.

To anybody who knew a thing about the EU's military uniforms, the insignia on the man's uniform left no doubt about his rank, and by proxy, his identity. His rank was that of the Fuhrer President of the German military, which also automatically made him the head of the Great German state. His name was Bradley von Bismarck.

He stared at the screen which showed the preparations for the opening ceremony of the SAZ. There was an almost chatter between the various politicians, who discussed various things among each other, while Bismarck remained silent.

"What do you think are the Black Knights going to do about this?"

"There is no way that they would ever oppose peace like that."

"Pah, as if this princess actually means what she says! She can pretend to be a messiah as much as she wants, but I bet that in the end, she'll probably just order the soldiers to kill all the Japanese!"

"No, even Britannia wouldn't dare something like that. The Black Knights would never take that."

While however all the other heads of state knew that, no matter what would happen during the ceremony, it wouldn't require them to directly react in any way, Bismarck was even searching for a something that would require them to react.  
Little did he know that he would find something.

* * *

-0-

* * *

In Area 11 meanwhile, in the stadium where the opening ceremony would be taking place, everything was ready for it to start. The stadium was filled with Japanese that had signed up for the SAZ, a G-1 Mobile Base had been parked behind the stadium, and all the officials were on the stage in front of the Mobile base, among them most of the representatives of the Kyōto House, Darlton, and Euphemia.

Everything seemed to be ready – but yet, Princess Euphemia didn't begin. Instead, she kept staring at the only empty seat left one the stage, meant for Zero.

Suddenly, murmur arose among the crowd, as a larger-than-average black and gold Knightmare Frame appeared off in the distance, flying towards the stadium, a cloaked figure standing on it.  
"It's Zero!"  
"Zero's here!"  
"Zero!"

"You came!" Princess Euphemia whispered, visibly reliefed.

Andreas Darlton standing next to hear, however gloated in a satisfied way. "So you admit defeat, Zero..."

Once the Knightmare Frame landed on the stage, Euphemia began greeting its masked rider. "Welcome Zero, to the Special Administrative Zone of Japan!"

"**Euphemia de Britannia, I wish to have a word with you once I dismount."**Zero said, not addressing her greeting in any way.

She hadn't expected Zero to demand something like that. "With me?"

"**Yes. With you, and alone."**

After her initial moment of confusion, Euphemia decided to agree to Zero's terms, and so they both entered the G-1 Mobile Base behind the stadium, where Zero was searched with a metal detector for safety reasons. Once the man in charge of doing this gave his OK, Euphemia got ready to lead him into the room where they would have their conversation.

Suzaku Kururugi was however not willing to let her go like that, being still suspicious of Zero."Princess Euphemia, I believe it would be dangerous to be alone with him. Please, allow at least me to accompany you!"

"It'll be all right. Believe me!" she said, trying to ease his worries, before she and Zero then finally headed towards their private conversation.

In accordance with Zero's terms, Suzaku and everybody else had to wait outside of the Mobile Base, and so Suzaku found himself standing outside of it, together with a few other officials including Darlton, ready to act if something were to happen.

"What do you think Zero is talking about in there with her?" Suzaku suddenly asked, speaking to no one in particular.

"I do not know..." Darlton replied to him "but God have mercy on his soul should he actually kill Euphemia, because Cornelia will most certainly not!"This earned him a few nervous chuckles from the other officials. Suzaku however found himself to nervous to laugh, being too concerned about Euphy.

Then, all of a sudden, Suzaku got the feeling that he was hearing something from Zero's Knightmare Frame, the Gawain. He turned towards it, and immediately saw a weird green light in the shape of a young woman, resembling the girl that he had seen in Shinjuku together with Lelouch, floating outside of it – which however nobody else seemed to be able to see.

Not knowing what else to do, he simply gasped, which got him a few quizzical expressions from the other officials. Suzaku didn't care for them.

"What are you doing with Zero?" he instead asked out loud, and sure enough, the young woman that Suzaku had seen both in Shinjuku and Narita climbed out of the Knightmare Frame, placing herself in front of Suzaku.

"I- it is you!" He stuttered, unable to think of anything else to say.

Retaining a serious expression, she examined Suzaku. "Answer me this. Are you-" Before she could however finish her sentence, she fell down to her knees, clutching her forehead, which for some reason seemed to glow.

Shocked at seeing her collapse like that, Suzaku ran towards the girl, attempting to help her. "Hey, what's the matter?"

Before he could however even do as much as touch her, a series of images flowed through his mind, none of which he was able to properly recognize. Only a few seconds later, he too collapsed.

At this, some of the officials, which until now had been ignoring Kururugi and the girl, ran towards the two. "Major Kururugi! What did you do to him?!"

But just like Suzaku, they too collapsed before they could even reach the girl, who was still holding her forehead in pain.

At this point, a loud, and definitely male scream came from the Mobile Base.

Acting quickly, Darlton send a few soldiers to bring Suzaku and the knocked-out officials to the Avalon so that they could recover, before he himself headed back into the Mobile Base with two soldiers, ready to kill Zero, depending on the situation that they would find inside it.

* * *

-0-

* * *

Finally, about half an hour after she left for her private conversation with Zero, Euphemia finally returned to the podium. Zero, Darlton and the two guards following her followed only a few moments later, as if nothing noteworthy happened.  
She went over to the microphone at the front of the stage, preparing to finally begin the opening, while Zero, without any comment, took a seat, the young green-haired woman accompanying him standing behind him.

Euphemia looked one last time over the crowd, and then finally began her speech.

"I'm sorry to keep you all waiting...  
Now then... Japanese! Welcome to the opening of the Special Administrative Zone of Japan! In this special zone the people of Japan will hold the same rights while remaining under Britannian government. I am also especially glad to announce that Zero and the Black Knights will join us in the constru-"

At these words, Andreas Darlton suddenly rose up from his seat and marched towards Euphemia.  
His scarred face was distorted with anger.

"You have got to be joking, your highness!" he shouted, wildly gesticulating with his arms.  
"You are honestly collaborating with this terrorist that has killed your own brother, challenged Britannia's authority, and brought nothing but chaos and disaster over Area 11?! First you take one of these low-lives as your knight, then you decide to open this ghetto in which these numbers have rights equal to us Britannians, and now THIS?!"

He paused for a short moment, angrily shaking his head. "You've betrayed your father- no, even worse, you have betrayed Britannia itself and everything it holds dear!"

"Bu- but-" Euphemia stuttered, but before she could say anything, Darlton cut her off.

"Shut up, you brat! It is about time that somebody gets rid off you, and puts an end to this _child's play_!"

He drew his pistol, and before anybody could react in any way, he shot her in the center of her body.  
The sound of the gunshot echoed trough the stadium. Every person in it, regardless of whether they were Britannian or Japanese, soldier or civilian, only watched in terror as Euphemia, a shocked expression on her face, collapsed. Blood started to spread across her motionless body from the wound just over her belly.

Darlton was however not finished yet. Still holding the pistol in his hand, he turned towards the crowd, and started addressing the Britannian soldiers.

"Fellow Britannians! The time has come for us to put an end to this rebellion of these conceited numbers! Now is our chance to crush the Black Knights and Zero, and put the Elevens back into their place!"

Zero however was nowhere to be seen – not that anybody cared, though. In the short silence that followed Darlton's speech, everybody had other things on their minds. The silence was finally broken when one of the royal guards on the stage raised his voice.

"He is right! It is already bad enough that we're supposed to accept numbers having the same rights as us, but working together with these terrorists that killed Prince Clovis?!"

"Yeah! Down with the traitor princess! Put these numbers back into their rightful place!" Another royal guard agreed.

One after another, the Britannian soldiers voiced their agreement, with the loudest voices coming from members of the Purist fraction. The Japanese within the stadium meanwhile started to panic, and tried to reach the exit – only for Darlton to raise his gun again, and fire it into the crowd. The soldiers followed his example, and within a few minutes, the floor was covered in blood and corpses.

It didn't take long, and the entire scene bore an heavy resemblance to the incident at Shinjuku Ghetto: All over the place, there were armed soldiers, both on foot and in their Knightmares, shooting down helpless people, which in turn tried their best to escape the carnage.

But just as in Shinjuku, a few moments later, the Black Knights arrived at the scene, coming out of their hiding place in a nearby forest, rushing towards the stadium in their Knightmare Frames. Zero had placed them there for a worst-case-scenario - a wise decision, as it now showed.

Upon hearing about the Black Knights getting directly involved into the battle, Darlton immediately send all Britannian soldiers outside the stadium – an order they gladly followed, each of them hoping to finally defeat the terrorists that had challenged their rule for so long. The surviving Japanese civilians meanwhile used this chance to escape the death trap.

Only a bit later, the stadium was almost void of any living beings, with only Zero, and another man a few meters behind, standing in the middle of the corpses.

"**Sorry..."** Zero murmured beneath his helmet, looking at the dead body of a little girl, no older than five years. Her eyes were closed, and blood was running over her expressionless face. "**There was no other way..."**

He then turned around, towards the only other living man in the stadium: Darlton.

"**Andreas Darlton! You have played your role well, but now it is over. It is now time for you ****too to die!"**Zero said in his usual, dramatic tone.

In response, Darlton only shouted "Yes, your majesty!".  
Zero then shot him.  
Until his death, nobody had noticed the slight red rings in Andreas Darlton's eyes.

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

"**People of Japan! Princess Euphemia's intentions... were genuine! However, she did not realize the true nature of the nation that she was trying to change, and thus was devoured by it! She is gone!"**

After the Black Knights defeated the handful of Britannians that were present in the area in and around the stadium, the surviving Japanese had returned to it. All of them were now eager listening to Zero's speech, together with their saviors.

"**We however will not stand for this injustice, and thus begin our open rebellion against Britannia's rule! We will free this land and establish the United States of Japan, or die while trying to do so! Where George Washington has failed so many years ago, we, the Black Knights, shall succeed!"**

The people in the stadium, Black Knights and civilians alike, cheered at these words, and started chanting Zero's name over and over again. They all were outraged after seeing Euphemia, the one Britannian official that openly cared about the Japanese, being shot by one of her own soldiers, and now were only too willing to join Zero's rebellion.

Throughout all of Area 11, the Japanese were now either listening to Zero's words, or acting according to them. Multiple riots had broken out, most of them even without the Black Knights.

In both the Chinese Federation and the Euro Universe, the recent events had spawned heated discussions on how to react to the recent events. While however the discussion between the Eunuchs in the Chinese Federation didn't really reach a conclusion, the discussion between the heads of state in the EU was slowly but steadily moving in the direction that Bradley von Bismarck wanted it to.

* * *

-0-

* * *

The instant Suzaku awoke, he realized that something was wrong. The last thing he remembered was him... trying to help the green-haired girl that was with Zero, who had suddenly dropped on her knees. But now he lay on a bed in an unfamiliar room, staring at a mechanical-looking ceiling, with his head feeling as if Arthur had bitten him repeatedly during all the time where he was unconscious.

Trying to ignore his headache, Suzaku straightened up. Looking around, he spotted Cécile, who appeared to be doing some work on a computer.

He tried to ask her what had happened, but instead of words, he only got only an exhausted groan out of his mouth. This however already seemed to be enough, seeing as she turned towards him, visibly relieved to see him conscious again.

"Ah, Suzaku! We were worried when Darlton sent you back here... thank god you're alright!"

"Here... where is here? Where are we?" He mumbled, still not completely having regained his senses.

"We are on the Avalon. Darlton didn't want you lying around unconscious when they open the SAZ, you see..." Cécile explained in her usual friendly tone.

Slowly coming a bit more to his senses, Suzaku listened. "Right, the SAZ... the opening ceremony is probably already over? What exactly was with Zero now?"

To this however, Cécile did not answer. She only stared at Suzaku, seemingly unable to think of what to say.

In an instant, Suzaku's headache was gone, replaced by a feeling of pure fear."What happened?... Did Zero do something? Is Euphy alright?!"

"You... should better see it for yourself." She said hesitantly, and moved aside from the monitor on which she had been working on earlier. It now showed what appeared to be a life broadcast from the opening ceremony. The people in the stadium seemed to be cheering, and at first Suzaku thought that Cécile had just played a dead prank on him – but then he saw the corpses, and the Black Knights among the people. And then Zero was shown.

"People of Japan! Princess Euphemia's intentions... were genuine! However, she did not realize..."

Throughout the entire speech, Suzaku didn't say a word. Once he was finished, and the broadcast stopped, he turned back towards Cécile, his previous feeling of fear having turned into one of complete horror.

"Britannia... devoured Euphemia? What does he mean by that?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"It was Darlton." Lloyd entered the room, and just like Cécile, the otherwise quirky scientist seemed to be in an unusually series mood.

"Darlton? Bu-" Suzaku tried to object, but Lloyd cut him off.

"It happened shortly after you were sent back here. Euphemia and Zero returned, and apparently had reached some sort of agreement about the Black Knights helping the construction of the SAZ. But when Euphemia properly announced that... Darlton lost it. He called her out for 'betraying Britannia' and then... he shot her. After that, he called out the soldiers for following her, and they..."

At that point, he just dropped off – but he had already said enough for Suzaku. Feeling physically and mentally more exhausted than ever, he dropped back on the bed.

"Suzaku..." Cécile started, but Lloyd shook his head, giving her a sign that made clear that she should better not say something now. After exchanging another look, the two then left the room. Before Lloyd however left, he turned around once more towards Suzaku.

"Suzaku... no matter what your going to decide now, I want that you know this. To us, it doesn't matter whether you are a Number or a Britannian. You're our colleague and our friend, and that only because you are the only one that can properly pilot the Lancelot."

Suzaku only gave him a simple nod to show that he heard him being already too deep in his on thoughts to really say anything.

Darlton... he was the first one to applaud for Suzaku during the ceremony in which he was instated as Euphemia's knight – the first one after Lloyd that is. Why did he do that, if now he just shot her? Did he hope that she was still "redeemable", if they would give her what she wants for now? Was his hatred for Numbers really that much stronger than his loyalty to both Euphemia and Cornelia? But that didn't make sense... he himself had said that anybody who would harm Euphemia would have to be insane in provoking Cornelia's wrath like that.  
And the soldiers... why would they attack Japanese just like that, after a princess had gone so far to assure equal rights between Japanese and Britannians? Did his belief in the emperor's philosophy really run that deep? Was it even possible to change Britannia from within?

"This is useless..." Suzaku mumbled to himself. "It's not like somebody is going to show up who is going to answer me any of these questions..."

However, as if to make fun of him, a monotone voice suddenly replied to him.

"You are right, Suzaku Kururugi. I may not be able to give you answers to whatever questions are on your mind right now, but I am able to give you some other answers."

Suzaku sat up as quickly as possible and looked around. Standing in the middle of the room was a kid, roughly ten years old, with hair longer than its body. While going by looks alone, it was almost impossible for Suzaku to figure out of what gender the kid was, the voice that he heard before sounded distinctively male.

His curiosity outweighing his uncertainty, Suzaku decided to talk to the boy. "Who are you? And what are these answers that you speak of?" He asked.

The boy gave him a little smile while otherwise keeping up his stoic behavior. "My name is of no importance now. As for my role... you could say that I work as an agent of sorts for his majesty, the Emperor. My answers meanwhile are all about one person: Zero."

"Zero? What could you possibly tell me about him?" Suzaku questioned, his curiosity growing.

"Don't you too wonder about all the miracles that Zero was able to perform? How the loyal member of the Purist Fraction, Jeremiah Gottwald, handed you over to him, just like that? Or how an otherwise obedient soldiers such as you suddenly only cared about saving his own life, when it was threatened along with Zero's life on Shikine? Or... how Andreas Darlton just shot Princess Euphemia during the opening ceremony of the SAZ?"

At that point, the boy made a short dramatic pause too seemingly enjoy Suzaku's shocked expression, who now finally started putting the pieces together.

"To all this" the boy continued, somehow managing to act overly dramatic despite his stoic manner "there is only one answer: Geass."

"Ge... ass?" Suzaku repeated, dumbfounded.

"Yes, that is what I just said. There is no need for you to repeat it." The boy confirmed sarcastically.  
"Geass is a power that manifests itself differently in each person. In every case however, it is something that only affects other human beings. And in Zero's case... it seems like he has the Power of Absolute Obedience, which allows him to force others to follow each of his commands.  
This is the truth that lies behind his miracles..."

And without any indication, the boy simply turned around and attempted to leave the room. Suzaku however still wanted to hear more. He tried to get up and grab the boy before he left the room – but he was to late, and before Suzaku got up, the boy had already left the room. The Lancelot's pilot ran after him, into the hallway – but when he got there, the long hallway was completely empty, with no sign of the boy to be found.

Confused, Suzaku went back into his room, and sat down on the bed once more, again sinking into his thoughts.

Geass...he thought._ That would be a good explanation for all the "miracles" that Zero was able to perform... but still. If Zero wants me on his side so badly, then why did he use this "Geass" to curse me to "Live" when he could just as well use it on me to force me switch sides?  
...That would mean that Zero either still holds the free will high enough to not just use this power on his potential allies, or that he cares for me personally enough than to use it on me - or both.  
But aside from Lloyd and Cécile, and the Ashford Student Council, there's no one that would care for me enough... the former two couldn't possibly be Zero, and among the latter -  
_He immediately stopped his thoughts as he realized, what the implications of that what he just thought were._  
No. No. NO. I've suspected this before, but there's no way it can be like that. There's no way that can be. There's no way that HE can be Zero. I won't accept it! But... it's the only logical solution... all those times when he was away from school... all those times when we just thought that he was out gambling... and wasn't he always away at the same time when I was fighting the Black Knights with Lancelot? And wasn't he the only one who could've known what I did to my father?  
But... that also means that he is responsible for Euphy's death. Or... is he? There's no way in hell that he would ever harm Euphy... I could understand Cornelia, but not Euphy.  
I guess there is no other way than to find him, and get the truth out of him. I must find Zero! I must see for myself if this "Geass" is real and whether he really is -_

* * *

-0-

* * *

**September 1st, 2017 a.t.b.  
11:50 PM  
Britannian Air Fleet Battleship Avalon**

Suzaku prepared himself. Only a few minutes ago, Zero and the Black Knights, who were currently waiting just outside the outskirts Tokyo Settlement had given an ultimatum to the Britannian government under Cornelia to surrender before midnight. It was obvious that Cornelia wouldn't even think about surrendering, despite having lost Euphy only a few hours ago to her own countrymen, and as such, Suzaku prepared himself to join the battle in the Lancelot.  
He would tear through every single member of the Black Knights to get to Zero if necessary, and then force the truth about what happened to Euphemia out of him.

But at the same time, he was still doubt-ridden because of the information that the long-haired boy had given him. And as such, he decided to now go for the easiest solution before moving out, and called Lelouch on his mobile.

After a few painful seconds in which Suzaku still hoped that Lelouch would not answer, he finally heard the voice of his friend. "Suzaku, what is it?"

Not having properly thought through what he would say to him, Suzaku hesitated for a short moment before he replied in a slightly hoarse tone.

"Hey, Lelouch... say, do you know the feeling of being unable to trust absolutely everyone around you? As if really everybody around you could be secretly working against you, without them even realizing it?"

To this, Lelouch gave out a small chuckle. "You're talking to a man who has lived seven years of his life so far trying to hide himself from Britannia all the time. Shouldn't the answer be obvious?"

"Right, I forgot... Lelouch, will you answer me another question?"

"Well, that depends on the question."

"Are you Zero?"

Suzaku could hear Lelouch gasp. Whatever his friend had been expecting to hear, this was most definitely not it. Shocked by the bluntness of the question, it took Lelouch a moment to answer.

"That... you will have to find out yourself." The exiled Britannian prince finally answered, before hanging up, not even waiting for what Suzaku might have to say to that.

The Lancelot's pilot was however satisfied enough with the answers that he got. Putting his cellphone aside, he headed for his Knightmare Frame, now even more determined than before to find Zero.

"Don't worry, Leloch" he said to himself. "I will find it out."

* * *

-0-

* * *

The mood in the Ashford Academy Student Council building was more than depressed. Ever since Princess Euphemia had been shot at the opening ceremony of the SAZ, the members of the Student Council had all been gathered in the same room, following all possible media for news on the Black Rebellion. The Student Council was however far from complete – nobody exactly knew where Lelouch or Kallen were; Suzaku was, being Euphemia's knight, obviously busy right now, and Nina had, after hearing about what had happened at the opening ceremony, locked herself in the Academy's warehouse.  
Due to this, only Milly, Rivalz, Shirley and Nunnally were present, all of them being deeply worried about the others, and eager to hear anything new about the Black Rebellion.

But the news that they did get weren't good. Due to another one of Zero's miracles, the Black Knights were quickly advancing through Tokyo, with almost no one standing in their way. At this very moment, they had taken over the TV stations, interrupting all broadcasts, and instead showing the Black Knight's symbol on all channels.

"Now all the television stations have been taken over as well..." Milly muttered. Just like everybody else, she realized the graveness of the situation, and acted accordingly.

Their situation was however going to take another turn for the worse, as just now, the door opened, and three members of the Black Knights stormed in.

"Hands behind your heads! This school is now under command of the Order of the Black Knights!" the apparent leader of the small group shouted, a brown-haired loudmouth with a red headband, who for some reason didn't deem it as necessary to wear the Black Knights standard cap-mask.

Rivalz, who saw this as an opportunity to win Milly over for him, moved in front of her and the others. "Put your gun down!"

The loudmouth, however, did not seem all too willing to cooperate. "Just who the hell do you think you are, making demands like that?!"

"Rivalz! What do you think you're doing?" Milly whispered to him in a warning tone.

"Just let me act cool here for once!" He whispered back, before speaking out loud towards the loudmouth again. "I'll protect everyone!"

Hearing that, the loudmouth only laughed. "Is that so? Then let's see you try!" He shouted, raising his gun above his head, preparing to hit Rivalz to it.

Before he could however finish his attack, a very familiar, metallic-sounding voice echoed through the room. A masked figure wearing a cloak entered, together with a red haired woman, who was wearing the standard Black Knights mask-cap.

"**Stop it, Tamaki! It told you not to resort to violence!"**

Taken aback, the loudmouth that Zero had called "Tamaki" began to stutter. "B-But! You said that you wanted to turn this into a command center..."

Milly couldn't believe her ears. "Command Center!..."

Zero turned towards her and the rest of the student council, now addressing them. "**This school shall be used by the Order of the Black Knights. We shall run it as our command center."**

Acting as the voice of the Student Council, Milly took over the task of speaking to Zero. "We cannot say no, right?"

"**I can guarantee the safety of all of you."**The masked revolutionary tried to reassure them.

Rivalz however didn't buy it. "Who'll believe that?! Your in a war. A war with our Britannia!"

Before Zero could however reply to that, the red-haired woman stepped forth, taking her mask-cap off. The face under it was just all too familiar to the members of the Student Council. "Kallen?!" Rivalz shouted.

"Rivalz, please..." Kallen said in a reassuring tone. "Do as he says. He will keep his word."

Rivalz however, still wasn't convinced. "Like I'd be able to believe that! You all hate Britannia! Who guarantees us that he -" He pointed at Zero " - will not just order to kill as all off should the Black Knights begin to lose the battle?!"

"**You really are concerned for the safety of your friends, aren't you? Well, if you don't believe me..." ** Zero looked around in the room, until he seemed to notice Nunnally at the far end of the room. **"Yes... perhaps you will believe her."**

He took a few steps towards the girl in the wheelchair, before suddenly stopping dead in his tracks, as if he had changed his mind about whatever he was planning. He then turned back towards Kallen. **"Kallen, accompany me. You other three, make sure that these students don't look in this direction, and don't look yourself, either."**

Confused, Kallen, Tamaki and the other two Black Knights did as they were ordered, and so, together with Kallen, Zero walked up to Nunnally, and kneeled before her wheelchair.

Then, to the great surprise of Kallen, he took of his mask, revealing Lelouch's face underneath it. He was covering his left eye with his hand. While Kallen let out a small gasp of disbelief, Lelouch took Nunnally's hand. "It's me, Nunnally. Don't worry. I will make sure that absolutely nothing happens to either you or the others."

"Big brother..." she whispered. "...Why?"

Lelouch let out a sigh. "I will explain it to you, once this all is over. Until then, please help me make the others cooperate."

He then turned towards Kallen. "The same holds true for you... when you want to stay with me, that is. If you want to leave now, I won't stop you."

Kallen looked down on the man that she would have never expected to see behind Zero's mask for a moment, before she replied. "You sure picked a great moment to show your face to me... like I could leave now, that we're this close to winning!"

Lelouch smiled while he put his mask back on, before standing up. He then turned back towards the other side of the room, where the members of the Student Council as well as Tamaki and the other two Black Knights were standing.

"**I think that should clear this situation. You can turn around again." **He said.

And while they all turned towards Zero, Kallen and Nunnally, the last one out of the three raised her voice. "He isn't lying." She said. "No matter what happens, neither he nor the Black Knights will harm us."

At that moment, another Black Knight rushed in. "Zero!" He shouted. "Lancelot-"

"**Ah... he finally came!" **Zero said, obviously satisfied.

While he however made his way out of the room, Shirley, who until now had remained completely silent, spoke up, her voice shaking. "Lelouch... this is you, isn't it?"

For a short moment, Zero stopped. **"I... have no idea what you're talking about."** He said without turning around, before leaving the room.

* * *

-0-

* * *

"You filth! You want to take hostages?! What kind of one on one battle is this?!"

Suzaku was furious. Ever since he left the Avalon, he had been tearing through the Black Knight's lines in Tokyo, all with only one goal: To find Zero, and force him to take off his mask.

When he finally found Zero, the masked terrorist had offered him an one-on-one fight, to settle their differences once and for all. As it however turned out, Zero wanted to have their battle take place above Ashford Academy, where both of them were currently hovering, Suzaku in his Lancelot, and Zero in the stolen Gawain. This would put Suzaku at a severe disadvantage, since he didn't want to hurt any of his friends at the academy.

But if Zero really is Lelouch, then he'd never hurt them, either, especially not when Nunnally' is there... or would he?

"**You'll have to understand the difference between our situations, Suzaku Kururugi. If you are ****to kill me now, then my entire rebellion will most likely fail. However, if you were to die here, it would make no big difference in the Britannian's forces for victory. As such, it is only natural for me to make sure that you will act with care in our fight."**

Suzaku didn't even bother replying to that, and instead tried to think of a strategy to overwhelm Zero before he would even get a chance to do anything that might threaten those in the Academy.

_I will try entering lower aerial space, and then suddenly getting close..._

Without a warning, the Lancelot fell for a few feet until it and the Gawain were at the same level, and then sped towards the larger Knightmare Frame, attempting to punch him.

Zero however was able to react quickly enough, and evaded the attack by dropping himself just above the ground, apparently trying to confuse Suzaku by hiding himself among the trees in the Academy's garden.

Suzaku followed him to the ground, trying to hit the Gawain with one of his trademark spinkicks. While the Gawain was still pulling back, it didn't seem like it would be able to evade the attack this time around. Suzaku got ready to follow up with another attack...

...when, without a warning, the Lancelot completely shut down. The last thing that Suzaku could see over the Lancelot's monitor was an all to familiar green shine. "This is... a Gefjun Disturber?!"

With nothing else left that he could, Suzaku now began shouting over the open channel of his radio. "Zero! Until the end, you're nothing but a liar!"

Zero however was already flying off. "**I have neither the skill as pilot, nor the time to put up with you. Goodbye, Suzaku Kururugi. I promise you, the next time that we meet, Japan will already be free."**

* * *

-0-

* * *

Only a few minutes later, the oversized Knightmare Frame Gawain landed on the garden on top of the Viceroy's Palace in Tokyo Settlement. It was a surprisingly peaceful garden, designed by Prince Clovis himself after the garden of Aries Palace in Pendragon.

Cornelia however, who was hiding among the trees in her Gloucester, had no eyes for the garden surrounding her, and instead only focused on Zero's Knightmare Frame in front of her. Ever since she had seen Darlton shooting Euphemia on the broadcast, she had been seized by madness and anger – anger which she was about to let Zero feel.

It was due to him and the Black Knights that Darlton had shot Euphemia... Darlton was still missing, so it was only likely that Zero had already disposed of him before Cornelia had gotten the chance to get her revenge on him. Now there was only Zero, the reason as to why he shot Euphemia in the first place.

The moment that the Gawain's feet touched ground, she revealed her presence by shouting over the open channel of her radio. "Welcome, Zero. You really were lured here by the report of the aerial strike... Now... it is time for the dance! Do you like to dance?"

It was taken every bit of willpower that she had to not just start attacking Zero. Euphemia was gone, and she would make sure that someone would PAY for it. Anyone who would have heard her and was still by his senses would have tried to get away from her as quickly as possible, but Zero remained where he was, not even giving any sign that he heard her. Cornelia couldn't however have cared less for that.

"Revenge... for Euphy!" She shouted, her voice full of madness, and dashed faster than it normally should have been possible her Knightmare Frame towards Zero's Gawain, her lance held out in front of her to stab him.

Trying to evade her attack, Zero pulled back, which earned him taunting laughter from Cornelia. "What's wrong, Zero?!"

And just now, Zero started talking. Despite Cornelia clearly outmatching him despite her overall inferior Knightmare Frame, he still remained calm while speaking over the open channel. "**This frame is clearly better suited for just overwhelming ones enemy..."**

And with that, the Gawain reactivated its flight system, bringing itself a few meters above the ground.

Cornelia, however, was prepared for that. Shouting "Weak bastard!", she fired of her Gloucester's slash harkens, grappling the Gawain. Using the slash harkens to pull herself up, she then jumped onto the larger Knightmare Frame, sending it falling to the ground again.

"I caught you! Your life is now in my hands!" Cornelia gloated. She would make sure to enjoy every second of her revenge...

To make sure that the Gawain would no longer be a threat after its impact, she then destroyed the feared Hadron Cannons on its shoulders before jumping off it again, landing just a few meters in front of it.

Holding her lance in front of the Gawain's cockpit, then spoke over the radio to Zero. "You have exactly one minute to get out of that Frame of yours. If you're not out of it by then, I will simply stab you."

Just a few seconds before her ultimatum ran out, the Gawain's cockpit opened, and out of it climbed the one man that Cornelia had been hunting for the past few months: The revolutionary Zero, leader of the Black Knights.

"Put your hands where I can see them, and don't try anything funny while I climb out now!" Cornelia warned him over the speaker.

While Zero did as he was ordered, Cornelia got out of her Gloucester, keeping a gun pointed at Zero at all the time, until she stood right in front of him. "And now... take off your mask! I want to see the face of the people that I am going to kill for Euphy."

Despite the dangerous situation that he was in, Zero remained calm, and started removing his mask, just as Cornelia ordered him. "**As you wish... sister."**

Standing on front of her, covering his left eye, was her younger half-brother, whom she had believed dead seven years ago in Britannia's war against Japan: Lelouch vi Britannia.

Cornelia stared at him for a moment, before then breaking out into hysterical laughter. "Of course, of course! The hatred you must feel for Britannia... it all makes sense! You are doing this for Nunnally, aren't you?"

Unimpressed with her outburst, Lelouch kept looking at his older half-sister, a for his situation unfittingly conceited expression on his face. "Yes. I will destroy this world, and rebuild a kinder, gentler world in its place, where Nunnally can live in peace, without having to be afraid of Britannia."

Cornelia only continued to laugh. "Do you really think that you are in a situation to throw out claims like this? It is as I said: Your life is in my hands. Without you, the Black Knights will not be able to win this fight. And don't believe that just because you're my brother, that I'm going to forgive you... no, for causing Euphemia's death, you will pay... you will pay dearly."

But still, Lelouch remained calm. "Believe me, neither my situation, nor the situation of the Black Knights is as bad as it may appear to you. But enough of this. You know what I want to hear about."

"It seems like you still don't quite realize what situation you are in. It is my decision whether you live or die now – you shouldn't be making demands." Cornelia replied, regaining at least some of her composure. "But alright – let's talk about your mother's, Marianne vi Britannia's death."

At the mention of this name, Lelouch's eyes narrowed for a moment, but he didn't say anything out loud.

"I don't know who killed your mother. On the day where she was assassinated, Lady Marianne gave me specific orders to lift the security in and around Aries Palace, without giving me any reasoning for it. I tried to investigate what exactly happened on this day – to make up for my bad conscious about not being able to save you and Nunnally during the war with Japan" - Lelouch's eyes widened, and he let out a gasp - "but all that I was able to find out was that our father, the Emperor himself covered up the incident, and Schneizel removed any remaining evidence, including her body. If anybody knows what happened that day, then it would be one of those two."

Completely overwhelmed by the information he just received, Lelouch could do little more than stare at his half-sister with widened eyes. It was obvious to her that he didn't expect anything of that what he just heard. Cornelia patiently waited for him to calm down, when a female voice came from the Gawain's speakers. "Lelouch! Get out of there! Your sister has been kidnapped!"

Lelouch quickly looked back and forth between Cornelia and the Gawain, and then removed his hand from his left eye, revealing a blazing bird-like symbol in it. "_Drop your weapon and let me go!"_

Having no choice but to follow his Geass order, Cornelia threw away her gun. "Understood."

Before however canceling the use of his Geass on Cornelia, Lelouch hesitated for a moment, and then gave her one more order. "_Answer me this: What you just said... was that true?"_

"It is true." Cornelia said, still keeping her Geass-induced dull expression.

Lelouch stared at her for a few more seconds, before then finally turning around, and running back towards the Gawain.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know that..." He said to C.C., before both of them flew away with the Gawain, an insane Jeremiah Gottwald, who suddenly appeared in a big battleship shaped like a spiked orange, following them to get his revenge on Zero.

* * *

-0-

* * *

Suzaku and Kallen arrived on Kaminejama only a few minutes apart from each other.

Suzaku had been saved from Zero's Gefjun Disturber trap by Lloyd and Cécile, who had shown up at Ashford Academy with the Avalon and a Knightmare Frame consisting of spare parts for the Lancelot. The two had quickly repaired all damages done to his Knightmare, before telling him to go after Zero.  
After leaving Ashford, Princess Cornelia had ordered him to the top of the Viceroy's Palace, where she made him an official knight of Britannia, and gave him the task of hunting down Zero, knowing that his Lancelot was the only Knightmare Frame capable of flight that was suited for the job. She also told him that he would find Zero on Kaminejama, and made some remarks about Zero's true identity, talking about him as "her brother".  
While this further increased Suzaku's doubts, he still tried to reject the thought that Zero was who he thought he was.

Meanwhile, Kallen had been given the task to find and bring back Zero by Ohgi, after the former had left the control of the Black Knights to Kyoshiro Tohdoh and Diethard Ried.  
Taking the aerial equipment of the Black Knight's reinforcement squad, she then simply followed the Lancelot with her Guren in a safe distance, until she too arrived on Kaminejama.  
Kallen, like every other member of the Black Knight knew that they would need Zero to win the Black Rebellion, and therefore she gladly took the task, despite still being in an emotional turmoil after learning that Lelouch is Zero.

The sun was already rising as Suzaku entered the cave, the single most peculiar place on the island. At the end of the cave, he could see Zero, who was examining the symbols on the wall, as if trying to find a way to get through it.

Suzaku shot the wall just next to Zero to make him aware of his presence. "Seems like you couldn't keep your promise. Japan isn't free. And now turn around. Slowly."

The masked revolutionary didn't move. "Didn't you hear me, Zero? I'm telling you to face me."

Finally, Zero turned around. "**Andreas Darlton slaughtered your people and shot your Princess! Without having to do much, he convinced the soldiers to turn against the SAZ, and yet you still fight for Bri-"**

Having heard enough, Suzaku cut him off. "Geass sure is an useful power. You force your will onto others, hide yourself in the dark, and have others take the responsibility for your crimes. Traitorous and manipulating, that is what you are." He then turned around towards Kallen, who was right now running into the cave.

"Kallen, don't you too wish to know Zero's true identity?"

This left Kallen unimpressed. "I already know his true identity. I am only here to bring him back to Japan, so that we can win!"

"Hm. Well, I still wish to know this." Suzaku said, a little taken aback that Kallen already knew Zero's identity.

Zero meanwhile seemed to have accepted his situation, and reached up to his mask. "**All right Suzaku, if you want to see my face that badly, then I guess I can oblige you."**

And for the third time this night already, Zero removed his mask, revealing Lelouch's face underneath it – only this time, he didn't even bother to cover his left eye, leaving his Geass clearly visible.

Seeing that what he had feared for several hours turn out to be true, Suzaku now became almost eerily serene. "Until now, I tried to deny that it was possible... tried to deny that it was true... I really should have known better. You lied. You lied to me, you lied to Euphy, you even lied to Nunnally!"

The mention of Nunnally finally caused Lelouch to lose his calm, shaking him visibly. "Nunnally... Suzaku, please, let us not fight now! Whoever told you about Geass – he has kidnapped Nunnally, and is now behind this door! Please, just for now, let us work together to save her together!"

Now Suzaku was losing his serene mood as well, his anger rising. "I can still save Nunnally myself after I have dealt with you! For killing Euphy, you! Will! **Pay!**"

What however came after this left Suzaku surprised. Instead of becoming enraged himself, Lelouch started laughing. "Ha! Suzaku you fool, do you honestly believe that I would go as far as killing my own half-sister if it could be avoided?"

Unable to believe his own ears, Suzaku stumbled backwards a bit. "Wha- What are you saying?!"

A wide grin spreading across his face, Lelouch spread his arms, using this opportunity to act up. "Isn't that obvious? Euphemia... is alive!"

Suzaku was dumbfounded. He opened his mouth a few times as if to say something, but closed it already shortly after, each time without saying something. Kallen was also surprised, but not to the same extent as Suzaku was.

After a few minutes of silence, Suzaku seemed to have finally regained his speech. "You-" He started, only to immediately cut himself off again. He turned towards the entrance of the cave, as if he had seen or heard something. Lelouch and Kallen followed suit shortly after, as they too realized that something was going on there.

Steps could be heard from the entrance of the cave, and two figures appeared, the rising sun behind them making it impossible to recognize their features.  
"Well, whaddya know, bro..." The one figure seemed to be saying. "We were sent here to simply find Zero, and now we not only find him, but we also get to see who's behind the mask!"

* * *

-0-

* * *

In the moment that under other circumstances would have led to his and the Black Knight's greatest defeat, changes happen, changes that might allow Lelouch to still claim victory.  
But what will the intruders from the EU's military do? What will Lelouch do about them?  
Next time, Code Geass: The Alchemists of the EU: Unerwartete Einmischung  
Are they the kind of ally that he needs?

* * *

**Author's Note:**  
And that concludes the Prologue. As you might (or rather, should) have noticed, the actual "Crossover" aspect of this chapter is quite minimal. The reason for this is the simple fact that I want to get the Code Geass part of the story out of the "Stations of Canon" as TV Tropes calls it as quickly as possible, while also properly setting up the premise.  
The other thing you'll notice is that I deliberately renamed King Bradley to "Bradley von Bismarck". The reasoning behind this is also quite simple: In this setting, Germany is basically Amestris, a place where you are not very likely to run into somebody with "King" as their first name. That, and his origins are - as you will see - different from canon.  
Now, lastly, the biggest question that anybody reading this might have: Is this a crossover with the 2003 anime of FMA, or the manga? Well, I am sorry that I have to say this, but. . . I'm not telling. Yet. Just wait and read on, and you'll eventually see.


	2. Unerwartete Einmischung

**Author's Note:  
**Uh. . . I have nothing to say right now. Just enjoy the chapter, and try not to get turned of by its length.  
Oh, and I do not own Code Geass or Fullmetal Alchemist.

**Edit, 4th of August 2012:**

As per my beta reader's suggestion, I retconned a few things about this chapter, so that the Karminrote Sieben no longer has any official ties to the EU, since them showing up like that really would be just an open declaration of war against Britannia.

* * *

Alchemy is a science where one understands the structure of matter, breaks it down, and then rebuilds it.  
However, it is not an all-powerful technique, as one cannot create something out of nothing.  
If one wishes to gain something, one most present something of equal value.  
This is the concept of equivalent exchange, the fundamental basis of Alchemy.  
There is only one substance that allows one to bypass this law:  
The Philosopher's Stone.  
However, there is a taboo in Alchemy.  
Human transmutation.  
One must not commit this act.

* * *

-0-

* * *

**Opening Ceremony of the SAZ  
Area 11/Japan  
September 1st, 2017 a.t.b. / 1962 AD  
2:10 PM  
A few minutes before the massacre at the opening ceremony of the SAZ**

"_You're being awfully cautious. I've had all the cameras turned off." Princess Euphemia said, as she watched Zero- or rather, Lelouch- cautiously search for any hidden security cameras or other means of covert observation._

_Only when he finished that, he took of his mask."It should not surprise you that I'm being careful. I've had to hide most of my life, due to the machinations of a certain empire."_

_He then pulled out a small gun somewhere out of his cloak, and pointed it at Euphemia. "This is a needle gun, made from wood and ceramic. Metal detectors can not detect it." _

_Euphemia, however, didn't even flinch at the sight of the gun. "Lelouch, you're not going to shoot me."_

"_You're right- I won't. You're the one who will do the shooting, Euphie."_

_While it was obvious she did not understand what he was trying to say, Lelouch just ignored her and continued. "This ceremony will broadcast throughout the entire world. If you, a Britannian princess, were to shoot Zero now, what do you think would happen?"_

"_The ceremony would devolve into a riot." Euphemia answered, deciding to play along._

_Satisfied that she had begun to understand, Lelouch continued. "Yes. And if it came out that you murdered him in cold blood, Zero would become a martyr, and your popularity would evaporate."_

_Euphemia gave him a baffled look. "What are you saying? We are going to rebuild Japan toge-"_

"_You think people will delight in serving you? You're just like Clovis. Everything is clear to me now- Zero will die, and then be miraculously be reborn, and the people will love him for it. People are more susceptible to miracles, than to logic, you see. Now, take it." He held out his gun to Euphemia._

_Euphemia was still baffled. Unable to make sense of anything that he said, she just stared at her half-brother in confusion._

"_There can be only one Messiah. When they see that you're a fake, the people will-" Lelouch interrupted himself, as he felt a searing pain in his right eye, bringing him to his knees._

_Wanting only to help him, Euphemia ran over to his side. "Lelouch!" _

_She tried to kneel down beside him, to help him, but Lelouch pushed her aside."Stop it! Don't you dare cast your pity on me! I do not need your charity! I will make this happen on my own! To that end you'll be my tool, Euphemia li Britannia!" He shouted, getting up, unknowingly activating his Geass._

"_I have relinquished that name."_

_With only these words from Euphie, his Geass deactivated itself again. Lelouch was completely put off his stride. _

"_I have given up my right to succeed the throne. I expect the mainland will announce it shortly."_

_Now it was Lelouch's turn to be completely baffled. "...why? Because you have accepted Zero in your heart?"_

"_I made you participate in my little endeavor, so I was sure you would expect something in return." Euphemia explained, giving him a smile._

"_You gave it up so easily? Did you do it for me?" Lelouch asked, still in disbelief._

_Euphemia chuckled. "You're self-centered as always. I did it for Nunnally. She told me if she could be with her brother, that was all she needed."_

"_That's why?" Slowly, he began to calm down._

_She nodded. "This is what made up my mind. I asked myself what's really important in the world. Lelouch, I haven't given up anything that I really, truly valued. _

"_And don't worry," She added, laughing, "I haven't told anyone about you."_

"_What about Cornelia, though?" Lelouch tried to object, but only half-heartedly._

_Realizing that she was about to win, Euphemia began to smile. "Well, it's not like we'll never see each other again."_

_Lelouch let out a sigh. "You're such an idiot. A total moron."_

"_Well, I never beat you at study, or games, but..."_

"_It's not exactly how I envisioned it, but I really will get all I want... when I think about it, you were Euphie long before you were sub-viceroy, or Third Princess." Lelouch said, now finally getting ready to accept defeat._

"_So, if I'm just Euphie, will you help me?" She asked, holding out her hand to him._

"_You were my most worthy opponent." He said, shaking her hand. "You win. We'll make out a way to make that Special Administrative Zone of yours work. And no, I don't want to be your subordinate."_

_Having finally convinced her half-brother to cooperate, Euphemia was cheerful. "Of course! You really don't trust me, do you? Did you really think that I would shoot you if you threatened me, Lelouch?"_

_Lelouch laughed as well, and stared off in the air, away from Euphemia's face. "No, I didn't. But if I really do give an order, none can disobey me. I could order you to do absolutely anything I want, no matter how obscure or unfitting for you it might be. Shoot me..."_

-0-

"_...Kill Suzaku..."_

-0-

"**...Kill all the Japanese..."**

-7-

"_...I could as well order you to officially declare that Britannia is evil, or command you to make out with Cornelia."_

"_Your jokes were never that good, Lelouch..." Euphemia sighed, visibly annoyed at what she thought was just bad humor on Lelouch's part._

_Looking into her eyes again, Lelouch decided to give her one more example. "I'm serious. You see, I can be... very convincing if I need to. If I were to order you **to go out there, fake your own death, and then go into hiding like I did**, you would have no choice but to do it."_

-7-

"_Hmm... but how should I be doing this best...?" Euphemia started wondering aloud, looking as if she was thinking very hard about something._

"_What are you talking about?" Lelouch asked, confused about her sudden change of topic._

_Still visibly absent-minded, Euphemia stared at the ceiling, hand at her chin. "Faking my own death... how should I do this?"_

"_Wha- You don't have to do it, it was just an exam-"_

"_No..." She turned towards Lelouch. "I have. I have to! I have to go out there and fake my own death!" She began repeating the words, and every time she repeated , she took another step towards Lelouch. Finally, he saw the slight red rings around her irises, which would appear only if he had given a geass-enforced order._

_Having a bad feeling, Lelouch looked into one of the room's dark windows. While his reflection in it wasn't exactly clear, it was still good enough for his biggest worry to be confirmed: Without him realizing it, his Geass had activated on its own. It was now permanently active, just like Mao's._

_He looked back towards Euphemia, who was now again staring into space, trying to think of a way to best fake her own death. "No... no..." Lelouch began to mutter, unable to accept the reality of what just happened. "NO! DAMN IT!"_

_As if she had forgotten that he was here, Euphemia looked at Lelouch again, appearing confused. "Lelouch..." she said. "Could you perhaps help me think of something?"_

_Unable to answer, Lelouch just stood there, watching his half-sister try to find a good way to fake her own death during the ceremony. She didn't even try to fight the Geass - or rather, couldn't.  
_

_Suddenly, steps could be heard from outside the room. Only seconds later, Andreas Darlton stormed into the room, gun in hand, two royal guards behind him. "Princess Euphemia! Is everything all right?!"_

_Having no time to think of anything else, Lelouch gave the one Geass order that he so far had always refrained from giving. **"Follow my every order!"** He shouted, putting Darlton and the guards under his control._

"_Yes, my lord!" The three shouted enthusiastically._

_Lelouch took a deep breath and closed his eyes, taking a moment to think about everything._

_For whatever reason, his Geass had become permanently active. _

_He had accidentally given Euphemia an order, and now she was thinking of a way to best fake her own death. _

_And then there were Andreas Darlton and the two royal guards, on which Lelouch had used an order that made him his slaves, something which he previously always refrained from, since he valued free will too much still._

_And as he went through these things once more, a plan started to form in Lelouch's mind – a plan that would allow him to make use of the order he had accidentally given Euphemia, and still allow him to free Japan with the Black Knights._

_He opened his eyes, and looked back at Euphemia, who was still lost in thought herself. "Euphemia" he spoke to her. "I have an idea on how you could do this... will you listen to my plan?"_

_Euphemia was visibly relieved at these words. "You do? Thank you, Lelouch! I was really having trouble thinking of something... so, what is it you thought of?"_

"_Just listen." Lelouch said, walking over to where Darlton and the two royal guards were. All three just stood there silently, awaiting orders. "Andreas Darlton! You will now return back outside together with me and Euphemia . You will act as if nothing happened, and just sit down in your seat, and wait until Euphemia mentions that Zero and the Black Knights will work together with Britannia on the SAZ. Once she does that, you will become angry, rise from your seat, and call her out on betraying Britannia by working together with us. After that, you will shoot her in a way that appears lethal, but should be possible to survive with medical aid. Once you have done that, you will call out to the soldiers for following her, and try to convince them to put the Japanese 'back into their rightful place'. When then the Black Knights arrive to save the Japanese, you will send all soldiers out to fight them. After all this, you will wait in the stadium, until I kill you."_

_Taking another deep breath after giving such a long order, Lelouch then addressed the royal guards. "You will return together with me, Euphemia and Darlton. After Darlton has shot Euphemia, and tried to get the other soldiers to join him, you two will one after another shout out your agreement to him. You will follow his orders, and in the fight against the Black Knights, get yourself killed as quick as possible."_

_He then turned towards Euphemia again. "How does this sound to you?"_

_Euphemia meanwhile just smiled, as if she didn't really know or understand what was now about to happen – which most likely was also the case. "Sounds good to me!"_

-7-

_And so, Euphemia as well as Darlton and the two royal guards ended up carrying out Lelouch's orders._

_Everything went according the revolutionary's improvised plan, and Euphemia perfectly faked her own death, fulfilling the most important aspect of the Geass order placed on her._

_That is, until Darlton came to the part of "putting the Japanese back into their rightful place"._

_Normally, when a Geass order is placed on a person, the person will have follow the orders just as the person giving the order intends them to._

_In this case, however, Lelouch made the mistake to give the order "put the Japanese into their rightful place" without anything specific in mind, leaving the order open for Darlton's interpretation._

_The result was the massacre._

_The injured princess Euphemia, meanwhile, was taken to the Mobile Base that the Black Knights had taken over in the aftermath of the failed opening ceremony, where she was given medical treatment by Black Knights medics to that Zero revealed that she survived._

_And then, the Black Rebellion began._

* * *

-7-

* * *

**Tokyo Settlement  
Area 11/Japan  
September 2nd, 2017 a.t.b. / 1962 AD  
5:13 AM**

Kyoshiro Tohdoh was close to having an emotional breakdown.

Ever since Zero had left him in charge of the Black Knights' battle for Tokyo, their situation had gotten progressively worse with each minute that passed. This was in no way because Tohdoh was an incapable commander, or anything of the sort – it was just that neither he nor anybody else had been given any time to even prepare for the idea that he might end up in charge. They had always relied on Zero, and now he had gone. As such, Tohdoh could do little to prevent the looming defeat of the Black Knights, which began to seem more inevitable by the minute.

With increasing difficulty, he fought off the seemingly endless number of enemy Knightmare Frames. Their pilots seemed to have realized that the Black Knights were fighting a losing battle, and had begun to attack with renewed vigour. While Tohdoh's own custom Gekka unit was easily superior to the Britannian's standard Sutherlands and Gloucesters in almost every way, he was well aware of the fact that his Knightmare's energy battery wouldn't last forever, and that sooner or later he was bound to make a mistake that would cost him his life.

"You damn bastards!" He shouted, as he used his Gekka's sword to impale a Gloucester before its pilot even had a chance to dodge. "It can't end like this! Not now, not when we're so close!"

While he wasn't exactly a religious man, in his despair Tohdoh was now praying to whatever deity might hear his prayers. Praying, that through a true miracle that otherwise only Zero would be capable of, the Black Knights would somehow manage to turn the tides of battle in their favor again. That against the odds, their rebellion would still turn out to be a success, and not an attempt to regain freedom that had been launched too early.

And as if his prayers had been answered, he, and most likely everybody else in Tokyo Settlement, regardless of whether they were Japanese or Britannian, received a transmission over an open channel.

The voice that could be heard from it also echoed throughout Tokyo, apparently coming from a speaker up in the sky.

"_Attention Japanese, Black Knights, and Britannians!" _An enthusiastic male voice exclaimed,_ "We are the Karminrote Sieben _**(Crimson Seven)**_, a group interested in Japan's freedom! We are here to help the Black Knights free this so-called "Area 11" from Britannian suppression, and overthrow the forces occupying it!" _

In the general confusion that ensued after these words, Tohdoh quickly took out the remaining enemy Sutherlands and Gloucesters around him, whose pilots were busy staring into the sky, searching for the source of the announcement. Only then, Tohdoh allowed himself to be distracted, and looked up into the sky himself.

Floating above Tokyo settlement in the late night sky was a flying battleship, similar in appearance to the Avalon. There were however differences between the Britannian battleship and that of the newcomer: This battleship was noticeably larger and had, in contrast to the mostly white and orange Avalon, a blue and golden color scheme.

As Tohdoh watched the battleship, what seemed like several Knightmare Frames deployed from it – each of which appeared to have a sort of float system equipped, seeing how all of them descended slowly, almost levitating. One after another they floated towards several places in Tokyo, places where Tohdoh knew that the battle was going strong.

With each deployed Knightmare Frame, Tohdoh's hope increased by a little- until it suddenly stopped, after no more than 30 Knightmares having been deployed.

_Those idiots!_ Tohdoh thought to himself. _Do these people really think that they can help us with only one battleship and about thirty Knightmare Frames!?_

Before Tohdoh could however continue that train of though, three of the newcomer's Knightmare Frames flew over to his position, giving him the first clear look of the mechs.

While Tohdoh at first thought that the _Karminrote Sieben_ had sent what seemed to be an advanced version of the EU's standard _Panzer Hummel_ Frames into the battle, he now saw that he couldn't have been more wrong. In fact, the machines that were approaching him now barely resembled typical Knightmare Frames at all.

What was approaching him now resembled Knightmare-sized suits of armor.

As the three Frames approaching him landed, one particular Frame caught his interest. While the other two Frames around it both carried guns like most Knightmare Frames did and were visually pretty much identical, this one didn't seem to carry any sort of weapon with it, instead holding a man who looked like he was wearing the EU's blue military uniform in its hand. When it landed, it lowered its hand, and the man stepped onto solid ground. After the Frame had let the man to the ground, it locked into a pose that looked as if though the pilot wanted to perform martial arts with his Frame.

However, this was far from the only outstanding aspect about the frame. In general, the entire machine appeared as though it was designed to be as intimidating as possible: Spikes adorned its body all over, with three on each shoulder, another three on its kneecaps, and yet another three on its feet. In addition to that, its forearms carried spikes as well, and on the Frames' head was a single horn. The entire Knightmare Frame was in a gunmetal color, and seemed to lack anything like the landspinner, which was the standard method of moving any other Frame. Lastly, on both of its shoulders was a symbol that appeared to be a snake folding around a cross; below, a crown and two wings.

Before Tohdoh could make any further observations, the man that had been carried down by the Knightmare Frame he just observed stepped forth towards Tohdoh's Gekka, his arms folded behind his back, and raised his voice. "I am Brigadier General Basque Grand, the Iron Blood Alchemist, a State Alchemist of the EU's military! State your name and your rank, Black Knight!"

"My name is Kyoshiro Tohdoh, leader of the 'Four Holy Swords', and currently commander of the Black Knights in Zero's place!" Tohdoh replied over the speakers of his Knightmare in a serious tone, doing his best to not let his confusion over a man of the EU's military being here find its way into his tone.

This seemed to change Grand's mood for the better; he started to laugh. "Haha, perfect! Just the kind of man that I am looking for." He turned around towards the three Knightmare Frames behind him, and ordered two of them to head into battle against the Britannian forces, leaving only the particularly weird one that had brought him down behind him.

Following the orders without question, the two Frames ran off into battle – as Tohdoh could see now, they literally ran like humans, instead of relying on landspinners for transportation, which only further increased his suspicion and confusion.

"Come out of there, Alphonse! Out here, you'll be of more use to me!" Grand addressed the pilot of the remaining frame, before focusing his attention on Tohdoh once more. "Well then, Mr Tohdoh." He said. "There are a few things I would like to discuss with you, and I would quite prefer to do so while standing face-to-face with you. So, may I ask you to leave your Knightmare Frame? I can personally guarantee that you will be safe."

Tohdoh quickly thought over the situation. He was facing a man who introduced himself as a high-ranking member of the EU's military, with no proof other than the uniform that he was wearing. This all was incredibly fishy, but there was no telling what could happen if he were to oppose the man. Tohdoh had no knowledge of the other's Knightmare capabilities, so chosing to oppose him would at the very least be tricky - especially when taking into consideration that no allied forces seemed to be nearby. While still wary, Tohdoh decided to play along for the time being, and opened his cockpit to climb out of his Gekka, which ended up taking several minutes. While on his way to face Grand, he also caught another oddity about the European Knightmare Frame behind the man: Its cockpit opened into the way the Frame was facing, instead of its back.

Then, finally, Tohdoh stood face-to-face with Grand, and for the first time he took a good look at the man.

Basque Grand was a very tall man, standing at well over six feet- almost two meters. He had tan skin, a bald head, and sported an enormous black mustache. The shoulder markings of his uniform had three golden stripes on them, the middle one being thicker than the outer ones, indicating his rank as Brigadier General. While Grand's current expression was rather satisfied, Tohdoh could easily tell that he was an otherwise very serious man.

Standing by his side was what Tohdoh assumed to be the Knightmare Frame's pilot. As it turned out, "Alphonse" was in fact a boy with short, gold-blond hair, and equally golden eyes. From the looks of it, he was even younger than Suzaku, and was wearing a long, blue cloak with the same symbol as was on the shoulders of its armor-Knightmare imprinted in black on its backside. Overall, he gave off a much friendlier impression than Grand, though bearing a serious expression.

"Alphonse, transmute us a seating. I am sure that General Tohdoh will agree that conversations like these are best held while sitting."

"That won't be necessary. I am content with standing, you don't need to-" Tohdoh tried to object despite having no idea what Grand was talking about, but Alphonse interrupted him.

"It's all right, it's not like this takes long or anything." The blond-haired boy said in a casual tone.

He clapped his hands together in front of him, which caused an surprisingly loud sound, and placed them both on the ground. Accompanied by blue sparks, a stone table and two chairs formed themselves out of the rubble that Alphonse, Tohdoh and Grand were standing on, just a few meters in front of the boy.

Tohdoh was surprised, to say the least. "What was that?!"

"That was Alchemy." Basque Grand replied, giving Tohdoh a calculating look. "I guess it was to be expected that this surprises you, considering that neither Britannia nor Japan research this science. However, we do not have the time to discuss that. There are more pressing matters at hand, so please-" He gestured towards the newly created chairs. "Take a seat."

Once again suppressing his doubts and confusion, Tohdoh did as he was asked. "Would you mind answering me a few questions, Brigadier General?" He himself asked, hoping to get some information about the EU's intentions out of the man (should these people really work for the EU, that is), who was just now sitting down.

Grand eyed him carefully before answering. "I will give you all the answers that I am privileged to give. What is that you want to know?"

Tohdoh decided to be simply blunt. "Firstly, what is the EU doing here, fighting Britannia in disguise? If the EU supports us, why are only doing it now? What do you want from the Black Knights? And more importantly, what do you want from Japan, should it regain its freedom?"

Grand didn't reply right away, taking a few seconds to think about what exactly to say while clasping his hands in front of his face, arms resting on the stone table. "The reason for us being not officially here should, in all honesty, be obvious. If the EU were to openly ally themselves with the Black Knights, and fight against Britannian forces on their own turf, it would be nothing short of an open declaration of war. Appearing as a terrorist group independent of the EU, we are able to act without provoking a war, while still helping Japan regain its freedom." He then began. "As for the reason why the EU is supporting the Black Knights to begin with- that is simple. Japan has the biggest natural resources of Sakuradite in the entire world. Liberating it from Britannian rule will severely weaken the empire."

Tohdoh, who had expected such a reply, silently nodded, while Grand continued. "To answer your second question: The EU doesn't want anything specific off the Black Knights. As I said, the EU supports Black Knights in their fight against Britannia. We only want to see Britannia weakened."

"Your third question, however, I cannot answer. You will have to talk with our commander, Lieutenant General Stauffenberg about that." He then added after another pause.

Tohdoh gave a short nod as a sign of understanding. "I see."

"I assume that these are all of your questions, then?" Grand questioned. Tohdoh gave him another nod. "Well then." Grand proceeded. "As you might have assumed, I myself have a few questions myself: You said that you are commander of the Black Knights in Zero's place. What exactly is the meaning of that? Where is Zero himself? Shouldn't he be the one to command the Black Knights during such an important battle?"

Tohdoh hesitated. He himself wasn't sure what to think about the situation with Zero yet, and was uncertain on whether he wanted to let the self-proclaimed Europeans in on the situation. Though, after he reminded himself of the fact that they had already officially announced that they'd work with the Black Knights, and couldn't just move out of that anymore, he decided to fill them in.

"I do not know where Zero is." He began. "About an hour ago he just contacted me, saying that I was now in command of the Black Knights, and that he had something very important to do, during which he could not be disturbed. He then simply left Tokyo, and turned off all means of communication. A few minutes after he left, one of our elite pilots flew after him, but we haven't heard anything from neither her nor Zero."

"Hm, this is unfortunate..." Grand murmured, looking aside. After a moment of thinking, he turned back towards Tohdoh. "Do you know in which direction he left? And could you perhaps give us description of Zero's, and your elite pilote's Knightmare Frames?"

While this question surprised Tohdoh, he still answered. "Zero left towards the south, in a bigger than average, black and golden Knightmare Frame, the _Gawain_. Our elite pilot meanwhile was in a average-sized red Knightmare Frame, with a large claw for its right hand, the _Guren_."

Having listened closely, Grand now turned towards Alphonse, who had been quietly following the conversation between the two men. "You got that, Alphonse?"

"Yes, sir!" The blond-haired boy replied, saluting.

"Good. Report that information back to the _Hindenburg_, and then head into battle. I don't care if you use your _Panzerritter_ **(Armor Knight)** or fight on foot, just go." Grand ordered Alphonse.

As the young man ran off towards his Knightmare Frame, Tohdoh's eyes followed the boy with. "May I ask why the EU enlists soldiers this young into the army, Brigadier General?" He asked, hoping to get an answer that would somehow allow him to figure out whether this group, the _Karminrote Sieben_, really was a part of the EU, or was just an independet group pretending to be that.

"Quite simple. Unlike Britannia, which takes the ideological position that all men are not created equal, the EU believes that all men are, in fact, created equal. This also means that all should be able to fight if they wish to do so, regardless of race, gender, age or origins. And don't let Alphonse's youthful appearance fool you – the boy is both a skilled pilot and a very skilled Alchemist for his age..."

Alphonse, meanwhile, had already climbed back up to the cockpit of his Panzerritter, where he turned on the Frame's radio transceiver, preparing to send a message back to the Hindenburg.

"Ed, I've got news concerning Zero! The man commanding in his place, Tohdoh, told us that Zero left Tokyo about an hour ago in a big, black-golden Knightmare Frame in south-eastern direction, followed by one of the Black Knights elite pilots. Seems like you'll have to find him yourselves..." He said in his first language.

After finishing his transmission, Alphonse made a short break in order to think about how he should proceed. Having been given the choice on how to participate in battle, be it on foot or on his Knightmare, he was now considering both options.

When he finally made up his mind, Alphonse left the cockpit of his Panzerritter again, having decided to head off into the fight on foot. Though his body was still weakened from the malnutrition that it had suffered for about four years, the young State Alchemist was still certain that he'd be able to fight well enough.

After taking one last look at Grand and Tohdoh, who now seemed to be busy discussing various matters with each other, Alphonse turned around, and headed off into the direction that the other two Panzerritter that had accompanied him earlier went off to. After running for only a few minutes, Alphonse could already hear the noises of the ongoing battle between the Britannian forces, the Black Knights, and the Karminrote Sieben's reinforcements: Gunshots, explosions and Knightmare Frames moving at high speeds.

Not long after that, he could see the actual battle.

The scenery was shocking for him. While Alphonse himself had only ever heard about the Ishval civil war, what he was seeing now came rather close to how he imagined its battlefields.

Every part of the city in his view was destroyed in one way or another; there were destroyed cars and Knightmare Frames everywhere, smoke rising from their still burning wrecks. Luckily, there weren't any corpses lying around.

But even so, Alphonse's first direct view of a battlefield was not a kind or encouraging one. _Get a hold of yourself!_ He mentally scolded himself. _You knew that it would be like this, so don't act so surprised! The sooner you act, the sooner you'll actually be able to make a difference!_

Alphonse violently shook his head to clear his mind, and started focusing on his surroundings again – and as it turned out, just at the right time.

A Britannian Sutherland, just coming out of a side alley, had spotted him and was now charging towards him, its gun aimed at the boy. Since the Knightmare was still a good distance away from him, Alphonse took a few seconds to take proper aim, before clapping his hands together in front of his body, and quickly placing them on the ground. The result of this transmutation were huge spikes shooting out of the ground, right into the Knightmare Frames' arms and legs, rendering it immobile.

Being completely certain that the Sutherland wouldn't move again, Alphonse went up to it in order to examine his transmutation.

Due to the size of the Knightmare Frame, Alphonse had to transmute bigger spikes than he usually did for combat, which in turn meant that he had to use a lot more material – something that clearly showed itself in the surrounding area of where the spikes came out of the ground. Around there, a deep, round pit had formed itself. Despite having to improvise this aspect, the spikes were just as solid and effective as ever.

Done with his examinations, Alphonse took one more look at the Gloucester. Just as he had intended it, none of the spikes had hit its cockpit, so that the pilot should still be alive – very shocked, but alive. He then clapped his hands together once more, and placed his hands on the spikes, transmuting them back into the ground again.

Being released so suddenly, the Gloucester simply feel over. The young State Alchemist meanwhile made his way over to where the Knightmare Frame's cockpit was, and transmuted a hole into it, giving Alphonse a view of its pilot, a young, blonde-haired Britannian wearing a red-black visor. Despite the visor covering the majority of his face, Al could see the disbelief and surprise written on his face.

"You should be able to climb out of this hole. I suggest that you try to somehow get away from the battlefield, and find a safe place to wait until the fighting is over."

Alphonse then turned around, and headed back into the battlefield.

It didn't take him long to find new opponents; just as he made his way to the next big street, he saw a group of about a dozen Britannian Knightmare Frames chasing four of the Black Knight's Burai, each of which were already damaged.

Realizing that he had to act quickly, Alphonse dashed forwards just as the four passed his position, throwing himself between them, and their chasers who were quickly approaching.

The Knightmare Frames' pilots seemed to care little about a 15-year old just having thrown himself into their path, and opened their fire at the Burai. Even if they had taken notice of him, the pilotes most likely would just try to run him over, perceiving him as no noteworthy threat - a threat, as they would realize. A few of their bullets came close to hitting Alphonse, who was now already clapping his hands together, readying himself for another transmutation.

Just when the Britannian Knightmare Frames were only a few meters away from him, the young State Alchemists placed his hands on the ground – and created a gigantic formation of stone spikes, so tightly packed it was bearing resemblance to a bush. The spikes completely impaled every single of the Knightmares, which all ground to a halt, rendered useless. Their pilots were certainly dead.

Seeing this, Alphonse frowned. While by now, he was mentally prepared to kill, he still didn't like the thought of it.

The fact that he didn't get to see the pilots didn't make it much better. On the one hand, he didn't have to see their faces, but on the other side, it also took almost all severity out of the act of killing them, making their murder just like simply destroying a machine.

Meanwhile, the four Black Knights had just now noticed that they had been saved, and turned their Knightmares around towards Alphonse. As they came closer, they started speaking to him over their Burai's speakers in Japanese. While he didn't understand a word they were saying, it was obvious to the State Alchemist that they were thanking him for saving them, cheering for him.

"You better try to get out of here before you get targeted again." He said in English while smiling weakly.

While the four Knightmare Frames showed no visible sign of having understood him, they still turned around after a moment of hesitation, and left for the direction where Alphonse originally came from.

The young European turned around, and ran off to find another fight to join.

As he was on his way, he could see a massive iceberg rising in a street not too far from him, and multiple big explosions over a short time in another street – clear signs of the work of other State Alchemist that had been flown into the battlefield like Grand.

Not long after he left the scene of his first kill, Alphonse found himself yet again confronted with a situation that required him to act: A pair of the Black Knight's Burai was desperately trying to escape from a group of Britannian Sutherlands – unaware of the fact that on a collapsed building above them, another Sutherland was positioned, getting ready to snipe the Black Knights.

To Al it was obvious that he would be unable to take out either of the Sutherlands fast enough to save the two Black Knights – he was too far away to properly attack any of them in time before they destroyed the Burai.

He had to improvise, and instead transmuted a high stone wall between the Black Knights and their chasers, hoping that despite the long distance over which he had to transmute, the wall would still be able to block incoming bullets.

But his hopes were belied.

The first shot from the sniping Sutherland easily broke through Alphonse's wall, and even buried one of the two Burai underneath a small pile of rubble in addition to almost destroying it.

"INOUE!" the other Black Knight shouted over the speaker of his Knightmare, his voice filled with terror.

While Alphonse was shocked as well, he didn't let it get the better of him, and instead ran towards the Burai, already clapping his hands together to perform another transmutation. Instantly, a giant fist formed itself out of the building that punched the Sutherland off the building, severely damaging it in the process. He then did his best to strengthen the walls that he had created earlier, in order to assure that the rest of the Britannian Sutherlands wouldn't just break through them as well.

Only then Al ran over to the heavily damaged Burai, and once again used Alchemy to open it. Inside the half-destroyed cockpit, he could see a young, purple-haired woman. She had lost consciousness, and was bleeding heavily on her left side. It was obvious that she needed medical attention. Making sure that the she would receive that would mean that Alphonse would miss most of the battle - which however only lay in his interest. While the young alchemist was still trying to think of a way to get her out of the cockpit without doing any further harm to her, the other Burai's pilot had climbed out of his Knightmare, and was now rushing towards Al, his fear written on his face.

"Inoue!" He once again shouted while running.

Alphonse turned towards the young man, and signaled him to stop and calm down, before speaking to him. "Could you perhaps help me get her out of there? She needs medical treatment as soon possible."

The blue-haired man was however far from being calmed. "Why don't you just use that weird magic that you used earlier to get her out of there?!" He shouted, his emotions getting the better of him.

"Are you blind? She's severely injured! Doing anything like I did earlier would just be risky now! And besides, it is _Alchemy_, and not _magic_!" Al replied, trying to stay calm.

This seemed to have the right effect on the Black Knight, who now asked in a calmer tone "Who are you, anyway?"

"I am Alphonse Hohenheim, the Iron Soul Alchemist, a State Alchemist of the EU's military. Any questions?"

* * *

-7-

* * *

At Ashford Academy meanwhile, the situation for the Black Knights under Diethard Ried was still problematic to say the least. While currently there was a ceasefire between the Britannians and the Black Knights due to the random appearance of a third-generation Knightmare Frame- that apparently carried a bomb dangerous enough to scare Rakshata, the otherwise calm head of the Black Knight's research and development team- it was certain that the moment the Britannians resumed the battle, the Black Knights would be doomed.

While everybody at Ashford Academy had heard the Karminrote Sieben's proclamation, not a single soldier, let alone a Knightmare Frame, had shown up yet. As such, the Black Knights at the academy, which were currently all taking cover in a passage between two of the academy's buildings, were starting to wonder whether the newcomers would aid them here, so far away from the actual battlefield as well. Especially Tamaki, who had been in an almost annoyingly good mood until Zero's departure, was having a hard time staying calm, much to the annoyance of Diethard and the others.

"Damn it..." He muttered. "Are these Karmin-bastards really going to help us? How come that not a single one of them has shown up here yet?!"

"Shut up! Your complaining doesn't make it better!" Diethard shot back angrily, despite Tamaki saying what everybody was thinking.

Tamaki was about to reply in an equally angry way, when something caught his attention: A single man was walking up to the academy through the main entrance. While he was currently to far away to make out any details, Tamaki could already see that he was wearing a white shirt and black pants.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Tamaki said in disbelief, drawing the other Black Knight's attention to the man. "They're sending _one single man _to aid us here?!"

Said man had meanwhile arrived at the scene, and was now standing not to far from the two Knightmare Frames that had forced the Black Knights to abandon the academy as their base of operations. Since the man was inevitably drawing all the Britannian's attention to himself with his sudden appearance, the Black Knights decided to come out of cover, to see what was going on, giving them their first close view at their supposed "savior". The man standing in front of the academy was very tall, measuring well over two meters. His head was almost entirely bald, except for a single, blonde hair-antenna on his forehead, and a humongous blonde mustache that made it impossible to see his mouth. The weirdest thing about him, however, was the fact that his head seemed for some reason to be constantly surrounded by what only could be described as pink _sparkles_.

Having taken a good look at the situation in front of him, the man then raised his voice, and began introducing himself. _Loudly_ introducing himself. "My name is Alex Louis Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist, and heir to the noble Armstrong family! Britannians, I am here to end your unjust fight against this country's representatives of justice, the Black Knights! So I offer you only one time: Surrender, or else you shall feel the might of my Artistic Alchemy, a skill that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" He proclaimed, while flexing his muscles enough that his entire shirt was torn apart, revealing his almost ridiculously muscular physique.

A rather awkward silence followed these words. While the reaction among the Black Knights varied slightly between each member, almost all of them were thinking that this man was... insane. Diethard, however, was having a feeling similar to the one he had the first time he saw Zero: The feeling that he was having a man in front of him that would have an impact on the world.

Tamaki, on the other hand, was unsure what to think of the man: He was torn between admiration for Armstrong's impressive boast and the thought that the man was just a lunatic. Rakshata, who was still watching the events from the roof of Ashford Academy, meanwhile decided to wait and see what the self-proclaimed Alchemist would do, watching him with her usual amused interest.

The reactions among the Britannians, regardless of whether they were student or soldier, were overall pretty much the same. Cecile, who was piloting the one Knightmare Frame that had essentially by itself forced the Black Knights to retreat, silently questioned the man's sanity, seeing as he apparently believed that he could take out a Knightmare while being on foot himself.

Nina, who was piloting the Ganymede, was too much of an emotional wreck right now after everything she had been through this day, including the failure of her Sakuradite-powered bomb, to even notice anything around her.

Milly, who was outside together with Rivalz and Shirley, to try and calm Nina, was interested to see how the man would live up to his threat.

Rivalz was, similarly to Tamaki, torn between admiration and disbelief.

Shirley's reaction was the same as almost everybody else's: The firm belief that the man was out of his mind.

Lloyd, who was watching the events from the Avalon, didn't have any strong feelings one way or the other – instead, he had a vague apprehension regarding Cecile's Knightmare.

Armstrong, who hadn't received any form of reply until now, prepared himself for battle. "VERY WELL THEN! HAVE AT YOU!" He roared, while strapping metal gauntlets to his hands. Each of the gauntlets had weird symbols involving a triangle inside two circles on their back, and large spikes in the areas of his knuckles.

He then charged at Cecile's Sutherland Air at a speed that nobody watching the scene would have thought a normal man capable of. When he was only a few meters away from the Knightmare, he stopped, and fiercely rammed his fists into the ground.

In an instant, large stone spikes shot out of the ground, which instantly pierced through the Knightmare Frame's arms and legs, leaving it completely immobile.

Meanwhile on the Avalon, Lloyd collapsed on the ground and curled up into a fetal position. He was shivering, just as if he felt the Knightmare's pain. "He's trashing it... he's trashing it!"

Back on the ground, Cecile was still unharmed inside the Sutherland Air, but had been massively shocked when Major Armstrong attacked her. Just now, she was calming down, and checked the functions of her Knightmare. The mech was completely unable to move, but aside from that seemed to be working fine. As such, she opened the cockpit, and climbed out, all the while staying alert in case the man would attack her again.

As it turned out, her suspicions were groundless; after taking out the Sutherland Air, Alex Louis Armstrong had moved on to take out the Ganymede, repeating the same attack that he used before.

While Cecile watched him do that, the Black Knights completely came out of their cover, with two of them running up to her, their guns ready.

"Put your hands where we can see them, Britannian, and don't try anything funny!" One of them shouted, aiming his gun at Cecile.

And as Cecile complied, Major Armstrong now also took notice of the Black Knights, and walked over to them. "Ah! You gentlemen must be the Black Knights!" He said, barely lowering his voice from the massive decibels he had exerted when he introduced himself.

It was Diethard who took it upon himself to talk to the Alchemist. "We are. My name is Diethard Ried, head of the Black Knights' Public Relations. I assume that you were sent here to help us reclaim our headquarters?"

Armstrong nodded in reply. "Indeed I am. However," He looked up at the Avalon "I suppose taking out these two Knightmares won't be enough, so if you would excuse me: My fight isn't over yet!"

Before the Strong Arm Alchemist could do whatever he had planned to take out the Avalon, Tamaki stepped forth. "Stop destroying the place! This is our new headquarters!" He grouched, pointing to the spikes the Alchemist had transmuted.

In response, Armstrong gave him an impressive glare, accompanied by more shouting. "YOU FOOL! Behind destruction, there lies creation! Behind creation, there lies destruction! Destruction and creation are two sides of the same coin! DESTROY AND CREATE! FOR THIS IS THE LAW OF THE UNIVERSE!"

In shock, Tamaki stumbled a few steps backwards. Armstrong however seemed to consider the conversation finished, as he turned around, and walked over to a relatively free space only a few meters away from the Black Knights.

"I suggest that all of you step back, this might become a bit chaotic!"

He then rammed both of his fists into the ground once more. However, instead of spikes, this time a thick, Greek-looking pillar shot out of the ground, and towards the Avalon.

Back on the ground, Diethard just stood and watched in awe, as the Strong Arm Alchemist made his way towards the Avalon, while at the pillar's base, more and more material was drawn from the academy's grounds, forming a deep pit around it. _"Incredible..."_ the Black Knight thought to himself, a maniacal grin on his face. _"Just what is this man capable of?"_

And while Milly and the other members of the student council were using the distraction to get Nina out of the Ganymede (while also very impressed by Armstrong's feats themselves), the Alchemist was now on the same level as the Avalon, with the battleship's bridge being just in front of him, where he stopped the pillar's ascension.

Immediately after this, he jumped over to the Avalon's bridge, and shattered its window with a strong punch right-handed, before landing on the bridge.

Around Armstrong, the battleship's crew stepped back – except for those that were still taking care of Lloyd, who was still lying on the floor, shivering.

"Well then, gentlemen... I suggest that you land this battleship now, or else you too shall experience the might of the Armstrong family's Artistic Alchemy!"

* * *

-7-

* * *

Kallen watched carefully as the two figures approached the part of the cave where she, Lelouch and Suzaku were standing. It didn't take long till the two came in close enough for the light falling in from an opening above to illuminate them, giving them their first clear view of the intruders.

Standing in front of them were two boys, both around the same age as the three of them. Both of them were wearing what appeared to be a blue military uniform. It felt awfully familiar to Kallen, though she had no idea where she could have seen it before. Both of them were also each wearing a pair of featureless white gloves, and had shoulder marks with four golden stripes, and one equally golden star on their uniform.

While the one boy was fairly tall – probably more so than both Lelouch and Suzaku – the other one was very short, being a good deal smaller than even Kallen. The shorter of the two boys had long, gold-blond hair, which was neatly tied together in a braid. Most of the left half of his face, including his left eye, was covered by his hair. In the right half though, Kallen could see that his eyes were the same color as his hair – golden. His expression was serious and calculating, as he was probably thinking of what to make of the scene in front of him.

The taller of the two had long, dark brown hair tied to a ponytail, which was about as long as the other boy's braid. Unlike the shorter boy though, he didn't have his hair cover part of his face. Instead, the most noticeable thing about him was the he was wearing a pair of weird, orange triangular shades, which made it impossible for Kallen to see his eyes. He had a cocky smile on his face, as if what he saw right now greatly amused him.

Since Lelouch, Suzaku and Kallen had held their entire conversation so far in Japanese, it was obvious that neither of the two knew anything of what was going right now, since they had been talking to each other in English when they arrived.

Being the first one to regain her speech after the sudden appearance of the two, Kallen decided to ask the obligatory question. "Who are you?"

It was the blonde boy took it upon himself to reply. "Ah, how impolite of us... my name is Edward Hohenheim. I am the Fullmetal Alchemist, a State Alchemist of the EU military. This," He pointed towards the taller boy, who was still grinning "Is Felix Scholl, the Burning Blood Alchemist, also a State Alchemist of the EU military. We are members of the research division Karminrote Sieben, and were sent here to find Zero. Judging by the costume," He looked directly at Lelouch "I assume that would be you?"

Before Lelouch could react, Suzaku, who thought that the two newcomers where on his side, started talking. "The EU wants to aid Britannia in overthrowing the Black Knights? That's rather unexpected, but I am sure that it is not unappreciated. I will accept your help in capturing Zero. Though, if I might ask... why, uh, does the EU's military employ such young soldiers?"

There was a blue flash in the cave, and before anybody realized what happened, Edward Hohenheim had dashed to the other side of the cave while shouting angrily and delivered a strong punch to Suzaku, who was sent flying for about a meter. "WHO'RE YOU CALLING A PINT-SIZED RUNT THAT COULD EASILY RIDE AN ANT?!"

"Uh, sorry... that's not what I meant..." Suzaku stuttered, slowly getting back to his feet. The attack had completely caught him off guard, and now he wasn't quite sure of what to do.

Kallen, meanwhile, was quite amused to see Suzaku getting hit like that, though she too was not sure what to make off the European's unexpected behaviour. Lelouch on the other hand just took a step back, just to be on the safe side.

During all this, Felix Scholl was laughing out loud. "Good punch, bro!" He lauded, before finally becoming more serious himself – if only a bit. "So, I guess you're this Spinzaku Kururugi guy, the knight of that princess?" He addressed Suzaku.

Suzaku, who was still too surprised by the punch he received to actually notice his newly-given nickname, nodded.

"Well then," Felix said "I guess we better make this clear right now: Me and my bro are here to find Zero and take him back to Tokyo, not to to capture him. The EU supports the Black Knights, not Britannia's military!"

The honory Britannian's eyes grew wide with shock, while he was left completely speechless. While Kallen could understand what he might be feeling after the things that he experienced in the past few hours, she did feel no compassion to him – not after all the trouble that he and the Lancelot had caused the Black Knights over the last few months.

"Now, wait just a moment." Kallen however threw in. "How did you even know to find us out here?"

"Easy. The Black Knights in Tokyo told us in which direction you flew off to, and after that, we only had to find the island on which the Knightmare Frames were standing." Edward replied, before turning to Lelouch. "So, Zero... will you return to Tokyo with us?"

Lelouch meanwhile looked back and forth between Edward and Felix, before finally looking into Edward's eye. For some reason, neither of the boys seemed to either not notice or simply not care about the Geass in Lelouch's left eye, with the blonde just calmly responding Lelouch's gaze.

Trying to put himself in a more favorable position, Lelouch decided to make use of his Geass. The exiled Britannian prince wanted to erase the European's memory one after another, starting with the one of which he was most certain that his Geass would work on him. As it was, Lelouch was uncertain on whether his Geass would work through Felix' shades. _"Forget that you ever saw my face!"_

However, before Lelouch could even finish speaking out his order for Edward, the blonde boy quickly closed his eyes, saving him from falling under Lelouch's command!

"I can assure you that this will not be a problem. To the EU, what matters is Zero, not the person that is behind the mask." Edward remarked in a matter-of-fact tone, while opening his eyes again as if nothing happened.

Lelouch's mind was racing. _Just how the hell could he evade my Geass? I was looking right into his eye! There's no way he could have reacted quickly enough to close his eyes in time! Unless... could it be that his left eye also has a permanently active Geass, one that allows him to predict my actions, similar to Mao?_

At the same time, Suzaku was also trying to understand what he had just seen. _Didn't this long-haired boy tell me that this Geass can force ANYBODY to do anything? Just how does it come that it doesn't work on this sho- blond guy?_

Before either of them could however finish any of their train of thoughts, Edward started talking again. "Now then: will you return with us, Zero?"

"I... am still looking for somebody on this island. An important person that I think is behind this wall." He replied, forcing himself out of his thoughts. "I need to find this person before I leave."

Edward went over to the wall to take a closer look at it. "Hm... I don't see anything that resembles a door or an opening here. Are you sure that the person you're looking for is behind this?"

"I am certain." Lelouch replied, deciding to simply play along with whatever the Europeans where trying to do.

"Hm, in that case..." Edward murmured more to himself than to anybody else, while clapping his hands together in front of him, creating a metallic "Clang!" sound. He then placed both of his hands on the stone wall – which, accompanied by bright red sparks, transformed into a big, heavy-looking, metal door.

While this left Lelouch, Kallen and Suzaku equally flabbergasted, Kallen was the one that actually spoke out what all three of them were thinking. "Just what the hell was that?!"

Slightly confused, Edward turned towards her. "That was Alchemy." He said. "Didn't I tell you that we are State Alchemists?"

"I thought that was some sort of weird joke. Aren't Alchemists people who throw together all sorts of chemicals, hoping to find a way turn lead into gold?" Kallen asked.

Hearing this, Edward burst out into laughter. "Hahaha! Seems like Britannia is really way more behind with this science than I thought. Well, in Europe, Alchemy has changed a lot from this view that you described. Today it is a science, where one understands the structure of matter, breaks it down, and then rebuilds, as you just have seen." He pointed towards the door he just created. "However, in order to gain something new, something of equal value must be lost first. That's the first law of Alchemy: Equivalent Exchange."

"Oyoyoy! Can't we just cut out the Alchemy lessons, bro? It's not like we have all day, y'know!" Felix shouted out, obviously getting bored with all the talking.

"Yeah Felix, I was just done, anyway. Well then, Zero... here you go." Edward said, before moving away from the door, presenting it to Lelouch in an almost mocking way.

Slowly, as if he was expecting a trap or anything, Lelouch walked towards the door, while examining it closely. It looked as solid as if it had always stood there, despite how out-of-place it was for this entire island. After a moment, Lelouch could also see that at some places, the door seemed to consist of a series of small rectangles put together, which were also present in the stone wall surrounding it – signs of the use of Alchemy, he assumed.

Finally done with his observations, Lelouch placed his hand on the door – and hesitated for a moment. There were a lot of things on his mind right now: Suzaku, Geass, Euphemia, Alchemy, the EU, Kallen, the two Alchemists... but all of these things paled in comparison to his worries for Nunnally.

Lelouch opened the door.

While he wasn't sure what he had actually expected to see, what Lelouch was seeing now was definitely not what he expected.

Behind the door was... nothing. Just a small, empty room,which seemed to be nothing more than an extension of the stone platform that he was standing on.

Felix, standing behind Lelouch took a good look at the room behind the door. "Oy, Zero! Are you really sure that this person you're looking for is here?"

"I... was sure. She- she should have been here!" Lelouch's voice was shaking. Had his entire detour to this island really been for naught? Had Nunnally's kidnapper already taken her to a new location, after Lelouch didn't show up alone? "Nunnally!"

In his despair, Lelouch slammed his fist at the wall. His entire body was trembling.

Kallen observed his breakdown with a mixture of interest and compassion. For her, it was the first time seeing Lelouch show any real emotion; gone was the apathy- this was the first time she could remember Zero showing any humour besides his overly dramatic behaviour. Given that, she carefully watched the young Britannian showing what appeared to be his true face.

_Just what is his real face now? Lelouch, the Britannian student, or Zero, the masked revolutionary? Did I even know who he really was?_ Kallen thought to herself. _Though, for him to break down like this over Nunnally not being here... did he do this all just for his sister?_

However, Lelouch didn't stay like this for long. Not a minute after his outcry, he straightened himself up, and regained his calm facade.

"How... was the situation when you left Tokyo?" He asked, still facing the wall so that nobody could see his face.

Once again, the Fullmetal Alchemist acted as if he hadn't witnessed anything odd going on, and completely ignored Lelouch's breakdown. "At the time when we left, our Panzerritter and Alchemists were turning the battle's tide in favor of the Black Knights, and one of the State Alchemists was sent to help them reclaim their headquarters."

Lelouch let out a deep sigh before continuing. "Seeing as the person I am looking for apparently isn't here... I will return with you to Tokyo."

Despite him not showing it anymore, the fact that he hadn't been able to find Nunnally here was still eating him up from the inside. However, seeing has he had been unable to find her now, it would make little sense to continue searching for her, since by now her kidnapper must have realized that it had gotten a bit to lively on the island. Even though Lelouch hated it, he had to forget about Nunnally for now, and instead deal with the problems at hand.

"And what about Spinzaku over here?" Felix asked, pointing at Suzaku, who had remained silent ever since he had been attacked by Edward.

Suzaku took a deep breath. "I will come along peacefully..." He then began in English, before turning towards Lelouch and continuing in Japanese: "...if you let me meet Euphemia as soon as possible."

Lelouch smiled weakly. "This shouldn't be a problem."

"We are ready to leave now." He said to the two alchemists.

As a sign of recognition, Edward nodded.

And so, finally, after what felt like hours to all of them, the five of them finally made their way out.

On their way out, none of them spoke a word – except for Felix that is, who started hitting on Kallen, much to the Black Knight's irritation. "Hey, you come here often?"

Kallen could only give a bewildered look in response to the European's advances. _Just what the hell is going on his mind?_ She thought to herself.

Thankfully for Kallen though, she was saved from having to reply by Edward, who gave the taller teen an angry glare. "Felix, this isn't the time for that!"

Felix sighed and shrugged. "Bro, a man's heart never rests! I thought you knew that!"

Another angry glare from the short boy however shut him up for good – just in time for all of them to finally step out of the cave.

Outside of the cave, the sun had now completely risen, illuminating the island in its soft morning light. Standing in front of the unlikely group were four Knightmare Frames: Suzaku's Lancelot, Kallen's Guren, and two others which undoubtedly belonged to the two alchemists. Just like Tohdoh before them, Lelouch, Kallen and Suzaku were quite surprised by the design of the European Knightmares. One of the two looked exactly like the Panzerritter piloted by Alphonse Hohenheim, the only visible difference being its color, a gray tone with a red tint to it – not that any of the three could tell at this time, though.

The other one out of the two meanwhile was just plain odd, even for the standards of the other Panzerritter. While the Frame's general shape was more like that of a Sutherland or Burai, its torso alone was already nothing like that of any Knightmare. The entire torso of the red, black and yellow-colored robot consisted of a big, vaguely triangle-shaped face with an open, slightly grinning mouth gritting its teeth. Covering its eyes were black shades, shaped just like Felix' – which in turn left little doubt towards which of the two Alchemists was its pilot.

Other than this big face, the Panzerritter had another, surprisingly human face on its head, which was covered by what looked just like the helmet of a samurai's armor.

"Say, Zero..." Edward suddenly interrupted their observations "According to the information we received, you came here with a Knightmare Frame of your own. What happened to that?"

Lelouch let out a small gasp. Over everything that happened in the past thirty minutes or so, he had completely forgotten that C.C. was still out here fighting Jeremiah. Or rather, she _had_ been fighting, seeing as everything around the island was completely silent, and the Gawain and whatever the thing was that Jeremiah was piloting was nowhere to be seen.

"My accomplice is using it currently. She should still be in this area... when I left her, she was fighting a Britannian... machine that pursued us. I wouldn't want to leave her behind."

"Hold on!" Felix interjected, hearing that. ""She"? That accomplice of your is a girl?"

"Um... yes." Lelouch replied, after a moment of hesitation.

"I'll go look for her!" The Burning Blood Alchemist immediately stated, wasting no time.

Lelouch made a grimace. _Just why would the EU send somebody like him to bring me back to Tokyo? At least this Edward isn't as... weird._ He thought to himself. Out loud, he however said: "That would be... appreciated."

And so, Felix climbed into the cockpit of his Knightmare Frame, all the while shouting things like "Los geht's! Karmingesicht!".

As the taller boy left, Edward turned towards Lelouch once more. "I suppose that you prefer flying back together with your subordinate, Zero?" He asked, sounding slightly annoyed, while bearing a fitting expression on his face.

Lelouch looked at Kallen. The European was right – Lelouch still didn't trust Suzaku enough to fly back with him, and Edward was far too dubious, so that left only Kallen. "Yes, that was what I was planning to do." Lelouch said, trying to ignore the implication that the European's tone and look were giving off.

"Right... and you?" The Alchemist then asked, looking at Suzaku.

"As I said, I'll come along peacefully. Besides, the Lancelot's batteries are already too low from the flight here to last for anything more than flying back." The Honorary Britannian said in a resigned tone.

"Good. We really should leave then. My superiors are probably already getting impatient as well..."

And so, the four of them finally left the island: Lelouch and Kallen in the Guren, Suzaku in the Lanzelot, and Edward in his Panzerritter.

Inside the Guren, it was rather cramped. Unlike the Gawain, the Knightmare Frame was designed with only one pilot in mind, so that Lelouch and Kallen had no choice but to stay quite close to each other. Neither of the two said a word.

"Well then. You said that you'd explain everything to me. So, explain." Kallen finally broke the silence, when they were at about the middle point of their flight back to Tokyo.

"I don't think that now I'll have enough time to explain absolutely everything to you before we arrive. There is a lot more to explain than you might expect." Lelouch retorted in a calm voice.

"Good... then only explain this Geass to me for now. What is it? And was Suzaku right? Can you really force others to follow your orders?"

Lelouch let out a sigh – and began explaining. "Geass...the power of the king. Suzaku was right – I can make anybody follow my orders, simply by looking them into the eyes. It is what made a good part of my 'miracles' even possible. However... I can only use it once on any one person."

Another moment of silence.

"Did you use it on me?"

"Shinjuku."

"...What?"

"I used it to confirm whether it was really you who was among the terrorists in Shinjuku. When I tried to give you another order after that to keep you from mentioning Shinjuku, I first discovered that it can only be used once per person. In order to eliminate your suspicions, I then resorted to a trick involving a recording of my voice."

"Ah yes... I remember."

Again, silence.

"So, do you believe me?"

"I don't know. I just... don't know yet."

Neither of them continued the conversation after that.

During all this, the Fullmetal Alchemist was reflecting on everything that just happened in his Panzerritter. Like he had hoped, he and Felix had found Zero – only for Zero to turn out to be a purple-eyed pretty boy with a glowy left iris, multiple girlfriends, and the tendency to act overly dramatic. While Edward wasn't even sure what he had expected him to be like, he had certainly not expected something like this.

_Still_, Edward thought. _He has gotten this far for a reason... and I don't suppose that we have much of a choice but side with him if we really want to achieve our goal. But that eye of his..._

Edward started his Panzerritter's radio set. Better warn Stauffenberg about this.

"Hey, crappy Lieutenant General! We have found Zero, and are currently on our way back to Tokyo, together with a member of the Black Knights, and Suzaku Kururugi, the knight of princess Euphemia. Felix stayed behind to look for another subordinate of Zero, who supposedly still is in battle in that area. It appears, however, that Zero possesses a power that allows him to force his will on to others when making eye contact. When we first met him, he specifically tried to use this power on me – I suppose that means that you can block it by wearing sunglasses or something similar. I guess you better prepare some countermeasures for this..."

* * *

-7-

* * *

Pain.

Endless pain.

The sheer torture of having her body being crushed by the water pressure again and again.

C.C. was floating through the cold ocean, just outside of the broken Gawain. After she had managed to get rid off Jeremiah Gottwald by forcing both the Gawain and Jeremiah's machine into the water, C.C. had left the Knightmare Frame's cockpit as soon as possible, in the hope of drifting to the surface sooner. Until that happened, she would have to wait – wait, and "die" time and time again, all while her Code slowly regenerated her body, keeping her alive. It was also due to her Code that C.C. was still conscious now, if only barely. For her, though, this was nothing new – over the course of her centuries long life, she had "died" already countless times. Burned to death, beheaded, stabbed to death, suffocated, shot, or even drowned: It had all already happened to her.

Her current experience was definitely among the worst things she ever experienced, though. Unlike these other instances, she was now being killed multiple times in succession, and there was no telling when it would be over. It could be hours, days, or even weeks before she would be able to set foot on land again.

However, despite the torment that she was in, C.C. could only think about one thing: Lelouch, her "accomplice", and reason why she had put herself into this situation. In the months since she had first met him, C.C.'s life had changed quite a bit. Little less than a year ago, she was still wandering around the world, alone. But then, things evolved rapidly, as she was first captured by Britannia, then stolen by Japanese freedom fighters, and then finally freed by the former 11th prince of Britannia, Lelouch – whom she made her first contract with since Mao. As it turned out, Lelouch was a lot like many of her former contractors, and at the same time completely different. Like so many others, he used the Geass given by her to try to change the world. But unlike all others, he did so while genuinely caring for C.C., and without falling into a blind obsession for her like Mao did. For C.C., who at last had a person who even remotely acted like this over one hundred years ago, this was almost enough for her to reconsider her one wish – almost.

As C.C. was thinking these things in her barely conscious state, she suddenly noticed a big shadowy figure swimming approaching her in the water. _A... Knightmare?_ She thought to herself, before passing out, finally able to flee from her pain.

When she slowly regained her consciousness, she was lying on a somewhat soft, but solid ground, while her pain was steadily weakening – a feeling similar to how her Code regenerated her body when it was lethally injured, only much, much, faster. With a lot of effort, C.C. overcame her reluctance, and slowly opened her unusually heavy eyelids. At first, all she could see was a bright red light that seemed to come from somewhere down her body. Only a few seconds after she opened her eyes, the light vanished along with the rest of her pain, leaving only a feeling of incredible exhaustion and weariness in her. As her eyes were slowly adjusting to the light, she could make out a figure leaning over her, as well as the multicolored morning sky behind it.

"Are you awake?" The figure asked.

Instead of giving an answer, C.C. sat up, to get a better look at the person in front of her.

Kneeling before her was a young, dark brown-haired man, wearing the military uniform of the EU as well as orange, triangular shades, that made it hard to make out his eyes. _Did this man heal me? How did he do that?_

"I suppose that means 'yes', then." The young man said in a slightly deadpan tone, before adding in a more hammy way "Well then, right onto business! I guess you're Zero's accomplice, right? What's your name?"

But yet again, C.C. did not answer, and instead asked the young man a question on her own in her usual stoic tone. "Why is that of interest to you? What intentions do you have?"

"Zero send me to search for you. He left Kaminejima just a while ago, but asked me to recover you before he did so. You still didn't give me your name, by the way."

C.C. sighed."Yes, I am Zero's accomplice. You may call me C.C."

"C.C.? That's not a name for a human. That's what I'd call a robot or something!"

"So what? It serves its purpose: You have something to call me by."

"Pah, then I'll just give you a name. How 'bout... Cecilia? Or Cera?

C.C. could not believe her ears. This idiot had just by a sheer coincidence used the one name that she hadn't heard within several centuries being used to refer to her – with the one exception of Lelouch using it recently.

And as it seemed, C.C.'s sheer surprise and shock were written on her face, as the alchemist continued triumphantly "Ah, seems like I'm not too far off!"

"So who are you, then? What is your name?" C.C. quickly asked, choosing to simply ignore the young man's inexplicably correct guess.

"My name, huh?" He questioned, a huge grin appearing on his face. "Well, then dig the wax outta that ears of yours, and listen very well! Once people here in Japan start talking about the Karminrote Sieben, they won't talk about their leader – no, they'll instead talk the Burning Blood Alchemist, that inspirational epitome of manliness – me, the great Felix! _Was zur Hölle glaubst du wer ich bin?!_"

* * *

-7-

* * *

By the time they reached Ashford Academy, the last bits of red dawn had vanished, and sun shone brightly. As Kallen, Suzaku and Edward slowly descended with the Guren, the Lancelot, and the alchemist's Panzerritter respectively towards the academy' grounds, Lelouch was able to make several observations of the situation on the ground.

Had he not known perfectly well that the complex below them was the academy that he lived at for about seven years now, Lelouch would have easily mistaken it for a military base: Swarming around the grounds were countless members of the Black Knights. In multiple places were Knightmare Frames standing around, and on the academy's sports place was the Britannian battleship Avalon landed – and oddly enough, in front of the main entrance, an enormous pillar as well as several spikes had appeared. Lelouch simply interpreted these things as signs of an alchemist having fought here.

When the Guren had finally landed, Lelouch had already put on his Zero mask again, and was ready to leave the Knightmare. Before he however began to climb out of the background, Lelouch turned towards Kallen once more.

"Stay by my side." He said. In response, Kallen only nodded.

Lelouch had already called Tohdoh on their way back to Tokyo; he knew of the general situation from the perspective of the Black Knights, namely that they were able to narrowly avoid defeat due to the aid they received from the Karminrote Sieben, and that their leadership was now awaiting his return at the academy for a first official meeting. As such, it did not surprise Lelouch that the moment he stepped outside the Guren's cockpit, several members of the Black Knights approached him.

What did surprise him was that they were led by Diethard Ried. Lelouch had expected them to be led by Kaname Ohgi, who usually took care of these things.

Diethard meanwhile began talking to Lelouch in the same tone he usually talked in when he was excited about something. "Zero, we are glad to see you again. During absence things got quite... chaotic around here. Though" he added while looking at the Lancelot and Suzaku standing besides it "Your absence really must have had results."

Instead of addressing the issue of Diethard's presence however right away, Lelouch's first action was to order three of the Black Knights that Diethard had brought along to deal with Suzaku. **"You three! Take Kururugi to the apartment on the second floor of the academy's Student Council building. Make sure that he doesn't leave it until you receive new orders."**

As the three did as they were ordered, bringing Suzaku, who quietly obliged away, Lelouch now turned to Diethard. **"Diethard, I thought it was not your job to deal with things like this. Where is Ohgi?"**

"Ohgi... is currently receiving medical treatment. He has been shot by a Britannian woman. I don't know any details, but from what I have heard, it is not lethal." Diethard said in a lowered voice, as if to make sure that none of the soldiers with them would hear it.

Lelouch was surprised. He clearly remembered that he had put Ohgi in charge of the Black Knight's new headquarters here at the academy. So how could it be that a Britannian woman managed to not only reach him, but also shoot him? Lelouch was already about to ask Diethard to bring him to Ohgi so that he could clear this situation, when he saw Edward Hohenheim approach them. The sight of the Fullmetal Alchemist reminded Lelouch that right now, he had more important things to deal with. Ohgi could wait.

"**Well will deal with this later. Now then"** Lelouch said as Edward came into hearing range **"I have been informed that our new allies want to have a meeting with me, is that correct?"**

"Yes. Tohdoh sent me to bring you to the place of the meeting." Diethard replied calmly.

"**Lead the way."** Lelouch said out loud, though he already perfectly knew where the meeting would be held. After all, there was only place that would be suitable for an occasion like this: The Student Council building.

And sure enough, just as the exiled Britannian prince had predicted, Diethard led their group- consisting of him, Lelouch, Kallen, Edward Hohenheim and the soldiers- to the room where just a few hours earlier, Milly, Rivalz, Shirley and Nunnally had been following the developments of the Black Rebellion – and where Zero had revealed his identity to Kallen and Nunnally.

Now, the room was filled with more people than ever before, all of which sat or stood around the long table in the center of the room. The highest ranking members of the Black Knights sat around the half of the table which was closer to the door: Kyoshiro Tohdoh, the leader of the Four Holy Swords, Nagisa Chiba, the only female member of the Four Holy Swords, the elderly Ryoga Senba, the tall and blue-haired Kosetsu Urabe, the bespectacled Shogo Asahina, Kaguya Sumeragi, the Black Knight's representative of the Kyōto House, Rakshata Chawla, leader of the Black Knight's research division, and Shinichirō Tamaki. At this end of the table, only three more seats where free – one for Diethard, one for Kallen, and one for Zero.

The other side of the table was completely occupied by the representatives of the Karminrote Sieben, all of whom wore the EU's standard blue military uniform, with only two exceptions. As Lelouch entered the room, he could hear snippets of a conversation held by the three people at the opposing end of the table, who seemed to be discussing something in German. "...selbst wenn Zero eine solche Kraft besitzt, bezweifle ich dass er sie hier vor so vielen Leuten anwendet. Es wäre zu riskant für ihn."

When the three noticed who had just entered, they ceased their conversation at once, and the man sitting at the head of the table loudly addressed Lelouch, as the masked revolutionary sat down. "Ah, the man of the hour... Zero."

The person speaking was a young man in the prime of his life. He had black, slightly unkempt hair with a few white streaks in it, and appeared to have eyes to match his hair in color. Aside from that, his eyes appeared to be slightly out of place for a man from Europe, seeing as they were narrow, similar to the eyes of the people of Japan. His left eye was covered by an eye patch. He had a very harsh expression on his face, that made it apparent that he was a man who was not be joked with.

Folding his hands in front of his face, Lelouch stayed composed behind his mask. **"That I am. But I do not know who you are. Would you mind changing that?"**

"Ah, yes. You obviously weren't present when we introduced ourselves to your subordinates. I am Lieutenant General Roy Stauffenberg, leader of the military research division Karminrote Sieben." Stauffenberg began in a patient tone.

"This is Brigadier General Basque Grand" he said as he gestured towards the man to his right "And this is Major General Dante Eckhart." With these words, he gestured to the person sitting to his left, an elderly, gray-haired woman that appeared to be old enough to be in her seventies, and was yet wearing a military uniform as well as a serious facial expression befitting of a high-ranking person in the military.

"These are Brigadier General Hans Clemin and Colonel Henry Douglas." He continued, as he gestured towards a bald, black man, and a pale-skinned, bespectacled blond man. The expression on the faces of both men was far from friendly.

As Lelouch made these observations, Stauffenberg introduced the last two persons sitting at the table: A very tall and very burly man, with black, messy hair, and a big, horizontal scar running across his nose too far below his eyes, as well as a young woman with long, blond hair, which was fastened behind her head with a clip barrette. The former of the two had for a member of the military an unusually dreamy and absent-minded expression, while the latter was just plain stoic. "These are Lieutenant Colonel Randel Oland and Captain Riza Falk."

He then finally finished his introduction by going over the remaining people standing behind him: Edward, Alphonse, and a girl in about the same age as Lelouch. She had long, blond hair, blue eyes, and stood taller than even the taller of the two brothers next to her, Alphonse. Unlike almost every other European in the room, she was not wearing a military uniform, wearing instead an open white lab coat, with a black top underneath it. The way it looked, she seemingly could rival Milly in bust size. "You have already met Edward Hohenheim, one of our State Alchemists. The young man standing here next to him is his younger brother Alphonse Hohenheim, also a State Alchemist. The young lady with them is Winry Scholl, head of our Automail research division." Stauffenberg said without even turning around to the three.

"Now then – what has Fullmetal already told you about the details about our presence here?" He then asked, being done with his introductions.

"**Not much. Only that you are members of the EU's military, and that you are aiding us instead of the Britannian military."**

"I see. Then let me put it this way: Officially, the _Karminrote Sieben_ has no ties to the EU. All of its members are either not a part of the military, wanted criminals, or officially stationed somewhere entirely else. Since we are a secret research division, we are currently acting as a terrorist group, as to not openly provoke a war between the EU and the Holy Britannian Empire."

"**Good – whole introductions aside, let us please get down to business. What is the current state of the rebellion? Are there any remaining Britannian forces?"** Lelouch asked. When he had called Tohdoh earlier, on his way back to Tokyo, the leader of the Four Holy Swords couldn't tell him many details about the general situation, and the little details that he did know where probably already outdated by now, so that asking Stauffenberg was by now a necessity.

"The fighting isn't done yet, but Tohdoh has already withdrawn your forces. Britannian resistance at this point is minimal, and our men are dealing with it. As we speak, one of our alchemists is leading a group into the viceroy's palace with the aim to capture Princess Cornelia. By now, it is safe to consider the Black Rebellion a complete success – Japan is free again." The Lieutenant General replied, keeping a completely straight face while doing so.

Lelouch remained skeptical. He was far from naïve enough to believe that the EU just acted out of altruistic interest in Japan's freedom. With the strength the Karminrote Sieben seemed to possess, it would be easy for them to overthrow the Black Knights, and bring Japan under the control of the European Military, should they see the need for it. Sakuradite could only be one of these reasons. Still, they could not do so and hope to hold Japan when the Britannian army came to reclaim it- this was far away from European supply lines.

"**You bring up Japan's freedom so easily – from what I know, there is still the Chinese fleet as well reinforcements from the Britannian homeland that we have to deal with. And besides – I do not suppose that the EU is content with simply helping us. There still are conditions to your aid in the upcoming battles, aren't there?"** Lelouch wanted to know, deciding to be blunt.

Stauffenberg raised his hands defensively. "You'll have to discuss these matters with Führer President Bismarck directly. I only know our orders, not the intentions behind them. Our orders are to aid the Black Knights in their rebellion, as well as any subsequent battles against foes that threaten Japan's independence."

Behind his mask, Lelouch raised his eyebrow. He didn't know much about Bradley von Bismarck, besides the few things that pretty much every other person could tell him – namely, that he was the most important man in the entire EU, being both the leader of the EU's collective military, as well as the state of Germany, and that he was nicknamed "King" Bradley, due to his efficiency in dealing with the monarchistic Britannia in international politics.

"However..." He added after a short pause "What I can already tell you is that Japan's Sakuradite resources are not a direct motivation for our interference. It is more so the fact that the loss of the Sakuradite supply from 'Area 11' throws the Britannian Knightmare production back to where it was seven years ago - which in turn weakens their troops considerably."

"**Very well then. Now, to get back on the subject of the Chinese Fleet and the Britannian reinforcements – I suppose that you will aid us in the battle against them as well?"**

"That you can." The Lieutenant General confirmed. "In the battle against the former however, I suppose that your troops will not be able to do much – according to our intelligence reports, the Chinese Fleet will already reach Kyūshū within several hours. I do not suppose that you have the means of getting your forces there in time – which we do. Our battleship _Hindenburg_ will allow us to deal with their fleet before it can even reach Japan's shores."

"**So I take it that you already have a plan on how to deal with them?"**

"We do. Allow me to elaborate..."

* * *

-0-

* * *

The waves slowly moved back and forth. Silence had befallen Kaminejama, where not so long ago, the destiny of an entire nation had changed for the better. Now, the entire island was once again void of all human life – almost.

Lying on the island's beach was a blue-haired, unconscious man in his late twenties. He had just recently been washed up on the island, after just having narrowly escaped his sinking aircraft. The man was severely injured, bleeding from various places all over his body, and by this point barely alive. As a matter of fact, the only reason he was still alive was the fact that his body already had several mechanical parts built in it that made him more resistant to injuries than the average person.

Even so, by now it was only a matter of time until his body would give in to its wounds.

Jeremiah Gottwald would die, alone on a deserted island far off from any other human being, never having been able to clear his name, get revenge on Zero, or at the very least see his family again.

Thankfully for him though, destiny had something else in mind for him.

A young, purple-eyed boy with extremely long, blonde hair casually walked up to the man. Had Jeremiah been awake and in his mind, he would have found the boy highly unsettling, and would have tried to get away from him as quickly as possible. As things were however, Jeremiah didn't even know the boy was here.

The boy meanwhile just looked down on the unconscious body with an emotionless expression on his face. Behind this facade however, he was in a horrible mood. His entire plan, the entire confrontation between Zero and Euphemia's knight that he had set up just gone wrong, no, backfired, in a way that nobody could have expected, and now Zero was probably in a better situation than he was ever before. Fixing this mess would not be going to be easy...

Suddenly, the boy began to smile – a smile that just looked plain out of place on a child his age. _Well, at the very least we now have a new test subject._

* * *

-0-

* * *

The Black Knights have gained new allies. But who are they? What do they really want? What is Alchemy capable of? Why was the Fullmetal Alchemist able to evoid the Geass? These questions plague Lelouch's mind as he prepares himself to talk to his first and best friend – while the EU fights the Chinese Fleet.  
Next time, Code Geass: The Alchemists of the EU – Karminrote Sieben.  
Seven... the seven sins of mankind?

* * *

**Author's Note:  
**And this ends the first "real" chapter. Now, obviously, this has brought up some more questions: Why has Al already his body back? Why could Ed avoid the Geass? Why do they both use their father's surname? Who is Felix?  
The only one out of these questions that I can answer now is however the last one. Felix is, as you might have guessed, a so-called "expy" of Kamina, and Winry's older brother. Why did I add him in? Truth to be told, I don't even remember. I do think however that I will be able to work him in without having him overtake the story.  
Lastly, you might've noticed some more changed surnames for the FMA characters, namely Roy, Riza and Winry. My reasoning for changing those is again the same as for the change in King Bradley's name. Be assured however, that at least in the case of the former two, their real surnames will stay alive as nicknames!  
With that said, I only have one thing left to note: Namely, translations for the untranslated german in the text.

_Was zur Hölle glaubst du wer ich bin - _Just who the hell do you think I am

Roy's line:  
"...even if Zero possesses such a power, I doubt that he would use it in front of so many people. It would be too risky for him."


	3. Karminrote Sieben

**Author's Notes:**

Weell, that took long enough. The wait between the previous chapter is about what you can expect for the wait time between new chapters in general. It just sucks to be lazy.

Now, before I get this chapter actually started, there are a few things that I would like to note.

First off: The first chapter(/second chapter, if you count the Prologue chapter as an actual chapter) has been retconned in regards to the K7's relation to the EU. As per my beta reader's suggestion, they now no longer have no official ties to the EU.

Secondly, to all mecha anime fans reading this fic: The "purpose" of this fic is NOT to give the FMA verse mechas. It is rather to give the Code Geass verse alchemy. Or, put into other words: Do not expect me to go to deep into the Knightmare Frames and all that. I myself am not really into mecha anime – the only ones I have ever watched are Code Geass (obviously) and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (and we all know that to most people, the mechas are not the main point of that series) – so making any references to Gundam or what these mecha animes are called by using mechas or characters from those series is pretty much out of the question.

Thirdly: The recently released Code Geass OVA "Akito the Exiled" is (obviousy) not canon to this fic, due to the different backstory. Though, conveniently enough for me, in the first OVA of that spinoff series, it was mentioned that Napoleon wanted dictatorship over Europe, so we can just assume that he actually went through with that in this timeline.

Fourthly: I know that this fic is currently quite lacking in interaction between FMA and CG characters, but don't worry – we'll get to that. It is just that I want to resolve the conflicts between the CG characters before I focus on the conflicts between the FMA characters and the CG characters.

And last, but most definitely not least: Thanks to the creative input and beta reader work of my good friend Greatkingrat88, who most certainly did play no small role in improving the overall quality of this chapter a whole lot.

Now, onto the actual chapter!

* * *

_A man was running through the forest. Gunshots, coupled with the screams of dying people could be heard, and the smell of blood and gunpowder was in the air. Somewhere not too far away, there was a battle going on._

_But the man was running away from the battle._  
_Away from the noise._  
_Away from the smell._  
_Away from death._

_He knew why the battle was being fought._  
_He knew that his men, who were buying him time so that he could escape, and continue their rebellion, wouldn't be able to hold out much longer._  
_He knew that they would be dead soon._

_The man was not much older than 20 years, and had light brown hair as well as gray eyes. As he ran, he cursed his enemies._

_He had been fighting them for several years now, and never managed to achieve a noteworthy triumph over them. For a while now, he had been thinking that maybe, their fight was pointless to begin with, that maybe they didn't even have a chance to win._

_But whenever these thoughts came up, he brushed them aside. He had to keep fighting. He HAD to. His country had been occupied, under the heel of foreign oppression, for far too long now. If he did not fight, then it might as well stay that way forever._

_Suddenly, he stopped running._

_Standing not too far from him was a green-haired girl with golden eyes, who eyed him with an curious look._

* * *

-7-

* * *

**Ashford Academy**  
**Tokyo**  
**Japan**  
**September 2nd, 1962 AD / 2017 a.t.b.**  
**09:43 AM**

Behind his mask, Lelouch let out a yawn. He hadn't slept since yesterday morning.

Over two hours had passed since the meeting between the Black Knights and the _Karminrote Sieben_. Shortly after it had ended, the Black Knights had held an internal meeting among the highest-ranking members that were not injured or otherwise indisposed – Lelouch himself, Kallen, Tohdoh, Chiba, Asahina, Senba, Urabe, Diethard, Rakshata, Kaguya Tamaki – discussing the results of the Black Rebellion, and, most importantly, their new allies.

All of them (except for Tamaki) were unanimous in their opinion of the _Karminrote Sieben_: They weren't trustworthy at all.

Their sudden appearance, advanced technology and use of "Alchemy" all were far too suspicious – not to mention the fact that at the current point, the Black Knights only had their word on them actually working under orders from the EU. The _Karminrote Sieben_ could, for all the Black Knights knew, as well be working for a different party altogether, that was somehow trying to stir up a new conflict between the EU and Britannia. In the end, the Black Knights decided to remain suspicious of the Karminrote Sieben, until they had let Zero talk with Bradley von Bismarck – which Roy Stauffenberg had promised would happen as soon as the Chinese Fleet was dealt with.

Aside from that, the topic of Lelouch- or rather, Zero- having left the Black Knights during the Rebellion for seemingly no apparent reason did inevitably come up, though Lelouch managed to delay his explanation for it to a later point. He also had revealed to the rest of the high command that Euphemia was, as a matter of fact, still alive– though Lelouch withheld the exact reason behind her survival for the time being.

After the second meeting, the high-ranking members of the Black Knights all went off to deal with the various tasks that had come up in the aftermath of the rebellion: Tohdoh and the four Heavenly Swords organized the troops, and made sure that the injured were being treated, while Diethard prepared a first public announcement of the Black Knights with regards to their victory. In the meantime, Rakshata was just too keen to analyze the Lancelot, setting up the tools necessary for this within a matter of minutes on the academy grounds.

Kallen, on the other hand, had simply taken a small group of soldiers, and led them off to Tokyo Settlement. While Lelouch had no doubt that she did have a legitimate reason for doing so, to him, it felt more like she was trying to get away from him. But he couldn't really blame her; he knew that just like him, she had a lot on her mind right now, and the time she needed for herself he was more than willing to give her.

Lelouch himself had spent the time since the meeting with a visit to the still sleeping Euphemia, who was recovering from her wound. She was being treated in one of the academy's otherwise unused rooms, having been moved there from the mobile base not too long after the academy had been seized. During his visit, Lelouch made sure that a security camera was installed in room, which would allow him to check on Euphemia from any computer on the academy grounds. In the end though, even this visit ended up being rather short, since Lelouch just didn't feel comfortable around her – not after what had happened.

So instead, he went on to investigate the newly-captured Avalon, checking out its rooms and capabilities, which he was still doing at the present time. The Avalon's crew had been locked away into the battleship's various rooms, without causing much trouble – with the exception of one Britannian scientist, who had started to throw a fit when he saw from his room's window that Rakshata was taking apart the Lancelot on the academy grounds. But aside from being very loud, and providing great annoyance to the soldiers guarding said room, this incident had caused no problems.

Lelouch was just overseeing a group of Black Knights working on the Avalon's bridge to get a good understanding of the battleship's controls, and make it usable as quickly as possible, when all of a sudden, he heard a voice speaking behind him. "I missed quite a few things, didn't I?"

Standing behind Lelouch was C.C., still wearing the white uniform that she had been wearing since the Black Rebellion began. As Lelouch turned around to her, she was looking around the bridge, just as if she was avoiding looking into his face – or rather, his mask.

"There you are. Where have you been this long? The man who went to retrieve you already returned a while ago." Lelouch said quietly, causing C.C. to finally look into his face. "On second thought, though... forget about it. You're not going to tell me, anyway, and there are more important things I need to talk to you about."

Not even waiting for a response, Lelouch went right past her, and left the bridge, making his way towards the room that he had taken for himself. After a moment, C.C. began to follow him, somewhat irritated. Lelouch couldn't care less about her irritation, though- ever since he had left for Kaminejama, a plethora of questions had filled Lelouch's mind, and C.C. was the only one who could possibly give him answers to at least a few of these.

The moment both him and her where in the room, and Lelouch was certain that they would not be interrupted, Lelouch took of his mask, and began his 'interrogation'. "First things first. Is Nunnally safe?"

"How rude of you. I don't even know what exactly is going on, and yet you already start asking me questions?" C.C. retorted, slightly bemused.

"Just answer my question!" He shouted. While normally, he was very patient with C.C. since she was the closest ally he had, his sister was the one subject where he wouldn't accept any of her usual 'mysterious' behaviour.

C.C. remained silent for a moment, closing her eyes as if she were thinking about something very hard. Then, after about a moment of silence, she opened her eyes again with a sigh.

"Your sister is safe. No one has harmed her, and no one is planning to harm her, either."

Despite being already relieved by hearing this alone, Lelouch did not calm down. "Then where is she? Who kidnapped her?"

"She's in Pendragon... in Britannia. I do not know for sure who took her, but I suspect that... a person like me is involved." C.C. replied grudgingly. Lelouch could easily tell that she did not want to tell him these things.

"Like you? You mean an immortal person? Somebody who can give out a Geass?" Lelouch asked, his eyes widened in surprise.

"The proper term is 'Code' – but yes, a person like that. We Codes can communicate with each other even over a distance, and one of us told me that somebody had taken Nunnally."

"But why would a Code take her to Pendragon? Why would he even tell you about it? Is one of you allied with my father?" He inquired. The information she was giving him was just too unbelievable for him not to ask.

Once more, C.C. hesitated for a moment before she answered. "I do not know why he told me about it. As for your other question: that I cannot tell you."

For a moment, Lelouch thought about to ask her again, demand that she tells him _why _she can't reveal this information to him – but then he realized that it really did not matter. C.C. being secretive was nothing new, and the knowledge that Nunnally had been taken to Pendragon alone was as good as learning that Lelouch's father, or another member of the Britannian nobility was allied with a "Code". It was at times like these Lelouch couldn't help but to think that the entire universe was against him.

"Do you at least have an idea who this 'Code' is that is involved in this?"

"There... is one who I could see being involved in this. His name is V.V, and his physical appearance is that of a boy of about ten years, with very long, light blonde hair and purple eyes." C.C. quickly replied, obviously relieved that the conversation moved away from Lelouch's father. _Purple eyes? Those are awfully common in my family..._

Once again, Lelouch considered asking her more about this, getting more information out of her... but just like before, the knowledge that he would never get the information he wanted out of C.C. stopped him from doing so. Instead, Lelouch was starting to think about the possible meanings of Nunnally being taken to Pendragon, and ways to get her out of there as quickly as possible.

Lelouch was already sinking in thoughts when C.C. coughed, obviously trying to get his attention. "Didn't you say that you would fill me in on what exactly happened after I answered your questions?"

The former prince looked up, slightly irritated. "Oh yeah... well, basically, after we left Tokyo, a division of EU soldiers called _Karminrote Sieben_ acting as terrorists showed up, and aided us in the battle against the remaining Britannian forces. As you might've guessed... I didn't find Nunnally on Kaminejama, and was instead confronted by Suzaku, who now both know that I am Zero, and that Euphemia is still alive. At some point during all this, we were interrupted by two... "State Alchemists" of the EU. One of them flew back with us to Tokyo, while the other volunteered to search for you – successfully, as it seems. By the time that we got back to Tokyo, most of the remaining Britannian forces were already defeated. Right now, most of those Europeans are out again to fight against the approaching Chinese Fleet."

"How unexpected. What do your new allies want in exchange for their help?" C.C. asked.

Lelouch frowned. "The only reason they gave me was that the EU wants to see Britannia weakened by all means. But for me to believe that, they are far too shady. They came out of nowhere, have technology that's easily on par with the best that Britannia has to offer, have Knightmare Frames unlike any Knightmare that I have ever seen, and then there's this "alchemy"... and the fact that two of them have seen my face after I took of my mask in front of Suzaku."

C.C. raised her eyebrows. "So what if they did? You can always use your Geass on them to make them forget it."

"Hmpf. About that... have you ever heard the name 'Hohenheim' before, C.C.?"  
"Hohenheim?" C.C. repeated, unexpectedly sounding slightly surprised. "I... have heard that name before, but that was... many years ago."  
"How many?"  
"About a hundred."

Lelouch stayed silent for a moment. While C.C.'s immortality was no news to him, she had never let on just _how_ old she actually was, and he had never given it much thought, either. To him, she was just his closest ally, the person he could trust the most, his accomplice – her past did not matter to him. In fact, the only time he ever asked her about it was when Mao had shown up. But hearing her bring it up herself like this, he couldn't help but wonder: For how long had she lived already? What had she been through?

Shaking his head a little, Lelouch pushed these thoughts aside. They had to wait. "Was this Hohenheim a... person like you?"

C.C. hesitated for about a second, and then shook her head. "...No. He wasn't. Why are you asking?"

"Because one of these two State Alchemists sent to get me back was a certain 'Edward Hohenheim', who managed to avoid my Geass." Lelouch retorted, smiling a joyless smile.

Not without a certain satisfaction, the exiled prince watched his accomplice's usually stoic expression change to one of simple confusion. "He _avoided_ it? How?"  
"Hell if I know. When I tried to give him an order, he simply closed his eyes for a moment, and then went on as if nothing happened. I'm assuming that he is either a code, or that he has a Geass himself, since his hair covers the left half of his face so that you can't see his eye."

C.C. once more hesitated before replying to that. "What does he look like?"  
"About my age, rather short, golden eyes, and blond hair in a braid."

Again, C.C. hesitated a bit before she replied. "It does sound like he looks similar to the Hohenheim I knew... he could be a descendant of him. I highly doubt that he is a code, though."

"Then what about the possibility of him having a Geass?"

"I cannot rule that out."

Lelouch sighed. "Then I suppose I will just have to find this out myself. I can't let a potential Geass user who has seen my face run around like that."

"Is there anything else that you need to ask me?"

"Hm... yes, there is one more thing. Is there anything I can do about this?" Lelouch asked, pointing at his left eye, where the Geass was still clearly visible.  
"If you give me some time, I will be able to get you some special contact lenses which will block off the Geass."  
"Good... that will help things." Lelouch said, nodding. "Now..."

He put his mask back on, and got up, making his way to leave the room." Feel free to come with me. I wouldn't mind having you by my side for what I am about to do."  
"And what is that you are about to do?" C.C. asked, getting up as well.  
"I'm going to talk with Suzaku."

* * *

-0-

* * *

"Come at me, you terrorist bastards! There's no way I'm going give up before Zero shows himself here again!" Cornelia roared, as she once again charged at the Black Knights and members of the _Karminrote Sieben_that were trying to capture her, Gloucester and all.

Not long after coming to her senses after her encounter with Zero- or rather, Lelouch- Cornelia had witnessed the arrival of the Karminrote Sieben. Until their interference, the second imperial princess had believed that victory was still well within her grasp: Since Zero had apparently completely left the field of battle, the Black Knights had been thrown into complete disarray, which in turn had made it easy for her troops to gain the upper hand.

With the sudden appearance of this new terrorist group, however, the Black Knights had quickly been able to once again turn the tide of battle in their favor, and had by now already seized all of the viceroy's palace, with the exception of the garden on the roof, where Cornelia was still fighting violently on her own, having sent her escort away to fight the Black Knights already hours before the _Karminrote Sieben_even arrived. Gone was the madness that had seized her after Euphemia's death, instead, it had been replaced by a clear determination. She was determined to not give up her fight until the bitter end, not until Lelouch had shown himself again.

As it currently seemed though, this "bitter end" would be more anti-climactic than Cornelia had hoped; as things currently stood, her Gloucester's energy would not last much longer, and the soldiers trying to capture her had by now realized that they were be better off stalling for time, instead of actively attacking her.  
The realization grated at Cornelia. If the Black Knights captured her now, there would be no telling when – or even if – Lelouch would come to talk to her again, answer her many questions-; why he was alive when it seemed like he died seven years ago, why he started a rebellion against his own country, and, most importantly, why Euphemia and Clovis– their _siblings_– had to die.  
In her sheer desperation and anger, Cornelia was readying herself to start one final charge at the terrorists' cover, determined to not go out without taking as many of them with her as possible... when suddenly, somebody stepped out of the cover, and approached Cornelia.

The person that approached Cornelia was a very tall, almost-bald man wearing a white shirt and black pants, who walked with a determination that was just plain out of place (or rather, suicidal) for somebody walking up to a four meter tall knightmare suit, capable of effortlessly killing hundreds of soldiers within a matter of minutes. When he was only few meters away from the Knightmare Frame, he stopped and addressed Cornelia.

"I presume that you are Second Imperial Princess of Britannia, and Viceroy of Area 11, Governor-General Cornelia li Britannia?"

"Who else should I be?" Cornelia shot back over Gloucester's speakers, being in a far too bad a mood to deal with a terrorist's pointless questions.

"I merely needed a confirmation." He mumbled in a slightly sore tone, before starting to speak more loudly. "My name is Alex Louis Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist, and heir to the Armstrong family! I was sent here to capture you, and I intend to follow this order without failure. So I offer you only once: Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

But the second princess was far too confused by Armstrong's introduction to even think about his offer. Alchemist? Armstrong? Cornelia had heard both the name and the term before – but that was over six years ago, in the most recent war between Britannia and the EU.

The brief war, which had been fought shortly after the establishment of Area 11, had been an effort by Britannia to demonstrate the superiority of its knightmare frames on the battlefield. The plan had been to smash the European defenses, scatter them, plow through the Scandinavian north and establish a base from where they could assault Great Britain, their original territory, the one lost to Napoleon Bonaparte. It would have been a victory beyond comparison, one equal perhaps to claiming the sword Excalibur of legends… if it had worked.  
Cornelia's mission during the Russo-Scandic war was to launch an attack at Briggs Fortress, a fortress located in northern Sweden, and destroy it. Doing so would've hit the EU even harder than the loss of the British Islands had, seeing as the fortress was a vital position for keeping Russia, which had only grudgingly joined the EU in response to the rising threat of Britannia, in check.

But like the attempt at the British Isles, her assault on Briggs was, in the end, a failure. She was the first person in its long history to test it to its limits, make it stretch in its seams as it nearly broke, but in the end its soldiers had been too hardy, its supplies too great and its commander too damn skilled. Yes, that commander… if not for Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong, and the fierce power of the alchemist under her command, Briggs would have fallen. But in the end, all that the invasion accomplished was solidifying Russia's loyalty to the EU.

But that was over six years ago, and in Europe. Now it was 2017, and she was in Area 11, the place where she would least expect to run into an alchemist. So what was an alchemist calling himself "Armstrong" doing here? Could the EU perhaps somehow be behind this new terrorist group?

Before Cornelia could further pursue this train of thought, a warning noise from her Gloucester brought her back to reality. According to the Knightmare's monitor, its energy would only last for a few more minutes. Outside, the muscular alchemist was already taking a fighting stance. Some last stand this was…

"I will not surrender for anything less than Zero returning to face me." Cornelia repeated grimly. "That is as much of an offer as I am ready to give you, terrorist scum."

"Then that means that we must do battle." Armstrong noted, as the second princess moved her frame into a fighting stance, too.

Cornelia knew that the instant that she made her move, Armstrong would attack – and that was the only thing she could be certain of. While she didn't know much about Alchemy, Cornelia had heard enough to know that the kind of Alchemy used by each individual Alchemist could drastically vary, which made it simply impossible for her to make any assumptions about the man's powers. Still, it was one man against one Knightmare Frame- a single round from her gun would end the man, if only she could hit him. Cornelia was however not naïve enough to even consider that a possibility; fraud or not, it was extremely unlikely that Armstrong would have approached a Knightmare Frame without being certain he could somehow protect himself against its bullets.

Taking a look around her, Cornelia quickly went through the options she had to begin this fight. Her Gloucester still had its lance and its gun, though using either would be too predictable as opening move. The gun in particular wouldn't be too practical, considering that it was designed to attack other Knightmare Frames or tanks, and not a comparatively small target like a human being. No, while directly attacking with either of those weapons would make for a good opening move, it was too risky, considering that Cornelia still did not know what Armstrong was capable of.

Inside her cockpit, the only weapon that the second princess of Britannia had with her was her sword – after regaining consciousness earlier, her gun had mysteriously gone missing, and there had been no time to search for it. As per tradition, all members of the royal family in official positions had to carry around a sword for ceremonial purposes, such as knightings. Where most of her relatives only used swords were carried for show only, Cornelia's sword was, as per her request, well suited for battle. Using it would be her very last resort, should her Knightmare Frame fail her.

The actual battlefield was not too rich with options on how to make the first move, either. The only noteworthy features of the garden within the proximity of the combatants where two trees standing to both of Cornelia's sides, both at least twice as tall as her Knightmare, and the stone floor that both Cornelia's knightmare and Armstrong where standing on.

And then, from just one moment to another, Cornelia got an idea that seemed good enough to her to open with. Instead of launching a direct attack against Armstrong, the second princess made her Knightmare use its lance to exert pressure on the tree standing on its right side. Almost instantly, the tree gave in to the sheer physical force, and collapsed in Armstrong's direction. Cornelia didn't leave it at that: Using her gun, she fired a burst of armour-piercing rounds at the man. Surely, either of the attacks would hit him, or at the very least leave him open for a follow-up attack.  
But as Cornelia had already somewhat expected, Armstrong didn't go down that easily. With agility that she never would have expected from a man that size, Armstrong jumped backwards, evading both the tree and the gunshots.

The instant he landed and stood firm again, he rammed both of his fists into the ground. The realization of what he was doing struck Cornelia just a moment before she could see what it was – he was performing alchemy. Accompanied by many unnaturally blue sparks, an enormous stone wall emerged from the stone floor. Quickly, it grew from just ground-level to at least six meters in height – a good bit taller than her Knightmare – and one meter in thickness. Worst of all, though, was the shape of the wall: It was circle-shaped, trapping Cornelia!  
Cornelia's shock was short-lived, though. If he believed that he could trap a Knightmare Frame like this, then Armstrong truly was a fool. A quick use of the frame's slash harkens would easily allow her to pull her machine out of this area. The second princess was in fact already aiming on a spot to fire them... when suddenly, something looking like a large stone missile formed itself out of the wall, and fired straight at her Gloucester.

While not exactly damaging, the attack was strong enough to shake Cornelia's Gloucester, and make her lose her aim. And that was only the beginning: Following the first missile, an outright hail of missiles of varying sizes began to form itself out of the wall, and launch itself at Cornelia.

Stuck within the circle, and with no way of locating Armstrong to put an end to this barrage, the second princess did the only thing she could do: Perform an outright dance to dodge the fire, and fire her gun at parts of the wall behind which she thought the Alchemist could be.

Only a few seconds after she started her Gloucester's dance, Cornelia began to realize what the intention behind the European's attack pattern was. He was by no means trying to destroy her Knightmare Frame and kill her – Armstrong was simply measuring the strength of his attacks. He wanted to capture Cornelia, and was therefore trying to render her Knightmare useless without killing her. To make things worse, there wasn't even anything Cornelia could do about it. She was stuck in her dodging dance, unable to make a proper counterattack to break out of this. This really could not get much worse...

Except that it could. Worn out by the hours-long continued use of the Knightmare Frame, its battery was now running out for good. While not completely empty yet, its energy was now too low to make the Gloucester function properly, and it was significantly slowing down. And so, the inevitable happened: The Knightmare was hit by several of Armstrong's missiles, causing it to fall over.

Almost instantly, Armstrong reacted, and made the wall retract. Before it had even completely sunken back into the ground, he jumped over it, ran up to Cornelia's Gloucester, and rammed his fists into the ground once more, causing several large stone spikes to form themselves out of the ground, and impale the frame arms and legs with it. The Knightmare Frame was done for.

Cornelia herself, however, was far from finished. So what if her Knightmare was out? She still had her sword, which should be– _had_to be– more than enough to take Armstrong out. While the fall and the subsequent attack had greatly shaken her and the frame, it still functioned well enough to open its cockpit, and even had enough energy left to do just that.

Grabbing her sword, Cornelia climbed out of her cockpit, a grim look on her face. For Euphemia's sake, she had to press on, and fight until she no longer could fight. On the ground outside, Armstrong was already waiting, looking up to her, his fists lowered.

"Surrender, Cornelia li Britannia!" He shouted once she properly stood on her Knightmare. "You have lost this battle. Continuing is futile!"

"Didn't I tell you? I won't surrender unless Zero shows himself, and I don't see him anywhere!" Cornelia shot back, before jumping down to face Armstrong.

"So be it! Then, I shall show you what these muscles are capable of!" Armstrong said, as he got into a fighting stance once more, Cornelia following suit shortly after.

Both of them carefully eyed one another, trying to find an opening or weak spot, something that would give them the advantage for a good first move. Then, without a warning, Armstrong lashed out, fist first, aiming for Cornelia's stomach. Having already expected that he would make the first move, the second princess simply sidestepped to avoid his fists, and followed up by a quick slash aimed for his chest.

Cornelia had not expected to already land a decisive hit with her attack. Wary of the Alchemists quick reaction and movement earlier, she was rather trying to test his speed in relation to hers, and sure enough: While Armstrong did manage to react quickly enough to move out of the way, he was not fast enough to avoid damage altogether, so that her slash got him a not-to-deep cut on his left arm.  
_So far, so good..._

Grunting in reaction to the sudden pain, Armstrong stepped backwards. "Not bad, Cornelia li Britannia! I do have to admit that I find your determination to fight quite admirable. You truly are a worthy foe!"

Cornelia merely glared. The last thing she needed right now was the praise of a terrorist with an extremely shady background. So in response, she scoffed:  
"You can keep your compliments for yourself, terrorist! If you want to talk so badly, why don't you tell me what exactly what your connection to the European Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong is?!"

For just a moment, Armstrong's face showed surprise– which was all that Cornelia needed to know. The Strong Arm Alchemist had a connection of sorts with the European Major General, or at the very least had heard of her before.

Out loud, the man said, "That is NONE of your concern!"

And with that, Armstrong once more charged at Cornelia, his fists raised. As soon as he got into reach, he launched a right-handed punch, followed a left-handed punch, and lastly, an attempted uppercut with his right fist. With great difficulty, Cornelia dodged all three of the surprisingly quick blows.  
_If I am not very careful, this man's speed will be the end of me!_

Without much thinking, Cornelia immediately used the opening that the alchemist's attempted uppercut had left, and kneed him in the stomach. While this didn't cause the man too much pain, it bought the second princess enough time for her to go into the offensive. Determined to not give Armstrong any chance for a counterattack, Cornelia launched a series of slashes and stabs, forcing him on the defensive. Just like Cornelia's Knightmare Frame earlier, the Strong Arm Alchemist was quickly forced into continuous dodging, giving him no opening to counterattack.

And just like the Frame, Armstrong eventually found himself overpowered, too: For just one moment, there was an opening in his guard, which was already all what Cornelia needed. Thrusting forward, she finally managed run Armstrong through with her sword, piercing his gut. Even though the alchemist seemingly managed to avoid damage to any vital organs, the wound would still severely weaken him.

Euphoric over the hit, Cornelia let out a psychotic grin. _YES! I got him! Now I can finish him... for Euphie!_

But the second princess had severely underestimated Armstrong's professionalism. Before Cornelia could remove her sword from the man's body, he rammed his fists into both sides of the blade, transmuting them.

Just like before, the transmutation caused blue sparks to appear, as the material changed. As Cornelia watched, the blade retracted itself from the alchemist's body, the swords material gathered itself in the handle, which changed shape... until Cornelia was holding a steel sculpture of Armstrong in her hand.  
_This man has issues..._

With the blade no longer holding him up, Armstrong dropped on his knee, while Cornelia took a few steps back.

"Who should surrender, 'alchemist'?" Cornelia asked with a smug smile. "You're injured, and I'm still at my full strength. If you still want to fight, I might as well hit you with this sculpture, if this is what you want."

"Do not disrespect the Armstrong family's artistic alchemy like that! It is a skill that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!" He retorted, still defiant. It seemed like he still thought that he could defeat Cornelia on his own, for whatever reason.

But when Cornelia realized where the alchemist got his confidence from, it was already too late. Armstrong had once more rammed one of his fists into the ground. This time, the transmutation he performed was comparatively minor: He caused the ground that Cornelia was standing on the rearrange itself, unbalancing her. He then quickly got back on his feet, ran over to Cornelia, ramming her. Having already trouble staying on her feet, the second princess fell to the ground, dropping the sculpture while doing so.  
_NO!_

When Cornelia hit the ground with her back first, Armstrong was already over her, his fist raised. In a last effort, Cornelia punched the wound in the man's gut in an attempt to make him get away from her. The alchemist's face twisted into a mask of pain, but he held firm. And then, he rammed his fist into the ground one last time, causing the floor to bind Cornelia's arms and legs, leaving her unable to move.

After this, he stepped back, and looked down on Cornelia. "You most certainly gave me more trouble than I expected, Cornelia li Britannia, but this is over now. The gentlemen of the Black Knights shall take you to this palace's prison. Please do not resist any further."

The second princess did not say anything in response to that. Instead, she considered continuing to resist once the Black Knights arrived, provoking them to kill her– after all, was there really a point to continue without Euphemia?– but then decided against it. There still was the slight hope that maybe, possibly, Lelouch would decide to visit her on his own, giving her the answers she so desperately wanted of him.

Cornelia let out a frustrated grunt. She had, by all means, lost.

* * *

-7-

* * *

The Korea Strait: A sea passage about 200 kilometers wide, between the Korean peninsula and the southwestern Japan island of Kyūshū. While normally the Strait was used mainly for trade between the Chinese Federation and Britannia, only a few weeks ago it had been filled with warships of the Chinese navy, which had attacked the Britannian forces in Area 11 in an attempt to help the exiled Japanese government use the general chaos brought about by the Black Knights to liberate Area 11, make it Japan once more– at least that was the official reasoning behind the campaign. In reality, the Chinese Federation only wanted to install a puppet government in Japan, and ensure that its large natural Sakuradite resources where under their control, which would have greatly increased the Federation's economical and political power.

The invasion had been thwarted by the combined efforts of Suzaku and Lelouch, using their Lancelot and Gawain Knightmare Frames respectively. The members of the Japanese government were imprisoned by Britannia, and the ships of the Chinese Fleet where destroyed.

Now however, the Strait was once more filled with ships of the Chinese Fleet, and they were more numerous than ever before. Encouraged by the outbreak of the Black Rebellion, the Chinese Federation had quickly launched another invasion at Japan, hoping that whoever won the Rebellion, be it the Britannians or the Black Knights, would be weak and unstable enough to easily overpower, and seize the Japanese islands for themselves. But though the fleet was strong, the Federation had been unable to send as many ships as they would have liked to, since there was no time to mobilize a major force.

But even so, the Chinese Federation had been able to send out five aircraft carriers, five battle cruisers – one of which was the fleet's flagship – and a dozen destroyers, with another four transporters containing infantry and Chinese Knightmare Frames, the Gun-Ru.

The fleet was now facing some unexpected opposition in the form of the Karminrote Sieben, who was facing it with their flying battleship, the Hindenburg, as well as their Panzerritter Knightmares and several stolen Britannian battleships that they had taken from the Britannian harbor on Kyushu. As soon as the fleet got into their reach, the Karminrote Sieben had launched their attack on the fleet, without even contacting any of its ships.  
The Chinese, though surprised, rapidly returned fire, and soon enough the space between the Hindenburg and the Chinese fleet was filled with projectiles of all kinds, Panzerritter, and some Chinese jet fighters, sent to counter the Knightmares. Even though the battle had gone strong for hours, neither side had so far managed to deal any serious damage to the other.

And in this entire mess, Alphonse was piloting his own Panzerritter, the _Vater_, trying to evade enemy fire while attempting to shoot down enemy Knightmares or jet fighters – and he hated every second of it. Back when he followed his brother's example to become a State Alchemist- no, already back when his brother himself became one- he knew that the day could come when he would have to go to war. Knowing this made the act itself not the slightest bit easier. Alphonse hated how from one second to another people around him, friend or foe alike, could just die. He hated how he could die at any moment, if his luck just decided to abandon him. He hated that _he_had to cause the death of others, people who only happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time in a battle.

And yet, he realized that it was necessary.

The first law in alchemy was that nothing could be gained without something of equal value being lost first, and just like that, it seemed like their world was one where peace could not be attained without war being fought, countless lives being lost first. Alphonse and the others had already realized that a long time ago. Even changing the world did not come without war, as it seemed– the Black Rebellion was proof enough of that.  
But despite Alphonse's distaste for the situation that he was in, he could not help but worry about his brother Edward, and Winry. While Alphonse had been giving the task to fight the Chinese fleet using Panzerritter together with the rest of the Karminrote Sieben's troops, the task that the two of them had received was entirely different.

Together with several other State Alchemists divided into five groups, Edward and Winry were to infiltrate the ships of the Chinese fleet, sabotaging their engines, and take out their commanders. Alphonse had volunteered to accompany him, but had his request denied since he was more useful as a pilot because of his weakened body. As such, all he could do is fight – and worry.

For the time being, though, there was no need to worry. Undetected by the enemy sonars, the five small submarines made their way to the ships that they were aiming for. As soon as the submarines came close enough to the ships' husks, they surfaced, allowing the alchemists to open the hatch, and create a way into the ships by using alchemy. In his group, this task had been given to Edward, who was also 'chosen' to be the first one to board the battlecruiser – the fleet's flagship – followed by the rest of his group, namely Dante Eckhart, Silver Alchemist Giolio Comanche, Ice Alchemist Isaac McDouglas, and Crimson Alchemist Solf J. Kimblee, as well as a few soldiers whose names Ed hadn't even bothered to ask for. Nobody within their group was wearing a military uniform (Ed himself was wearing a red cloak, just like the one Alphonse had been wearing earlier), as to not cause any political trouble between the EU and the Chinese Federation.  
The trip to the flagship had been a nerve-wrecking one. The air in the small submarine, produced solely for an occasion like this, had been unbearably hot and sticky, which was not all helped by the fact that space within the submarine was very limited. By the time that they had arrived on the fleet's flagship, Ed's already bad mood had reached a new low point for the day.  
Not long after he got out of the submarine, though, Edward realized that being outside of it was worse than being inside. Directly above to sea's surface it was windy, cold, and not even a minute after he left the sub, he was soaking wet. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Ed clapped his hands together, placed them on the battlecruiser's hull, causing a ladder and a door on the level where one of the ship's corridor's had to be to take shape, the alchemy accompanied by the typical blue sparks.

And yet, as he was climbing up the ladder that he had transmuted into the battlecruiser's hull, the one emotion that prevailed in Edward was not anger, but concern. Just like Alphonse was worried about him in turn, Edward was deeply worried for his brother, but even more so he was worried about Winry. While with Alphonse, he could be certain that he was a skilled enough pilot that he would easily survive, with Winry, Ed was a lot more uncertain. Despite her having received some military training as a soldier over the past year, she still had never been in an actual fight. As aggravating as it was, all Edward could do was hope for the best.

Aside from her, though, there was still one more person that the Fullmetal Alchemist knew, that was involved in this operation: The Flame Alchemist, Roy Stauffenberg – though Ed couldn't care less about him. That bastard was more than old enough to take care of himself.

By the time that Ed reached the door, he was freezing cold. As he opened it, he half expected at least a dozen Chinese marines to await him on the other side, their guns raised to shoot him before he could even make a single step on the battlecruiser. To his minor surprise, though, the corridor that Edward found on the other side was completely empty, devoid of any soldiers.

One after another, the other alchemists on the mission, as well as the EU soldiers that had been operating the ship followed him inside, Dante Eckhart being the last to board the ship. Despite her age, the trip here, followed by the climb up, seemed to have barely bothered her, as she immediately began giving orders.

"All right, gentlemen. As you know, our task is to take out the fleet's commander, and sabotage this ship's engine. We will begin by doing the former, since the risk of that operation is lower than if we go for the commanders right away. Any enemy soldier that we run into during this is to be taken out instantly. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers shouted in unison, while the alchemists - Edward excepted - just grinned with bloodlust.

"Good. We should get going, then. Fullmetal, you take point."

Having already expected such a thing, Edward didn't even bother to respond. Even though he had known Major General Eckhart for over a year now, he still could not stand her, for various reasons. Her high rank in the military meant that he had to follow her orders though, and as such, he quietly obliged. Just as he was about to go off into the direction Dante had chosen as the one where they would start looking for the engine room, they all heard a loud explosion, coming from somewhere out on the sea.

Already assuming the worst, Edward hurried to the next porthole, trying to find out what had happened. What he saw was one of the fleet's battlecruisers, on fire. Flames burst out of its hull, starting from a point somewhere in the middle of the ship, from where they spread unnaturally quickly. Seeing this, Edward grit his teeth and frowned.

It seemed like that idiotic Lieutenant General had already finished his part.

* * *

-0-

* * *

Suzaku was restless. Uneasily, he walked up and down the room, trying to clear his mind.

It had been several hours now since Zero– since Lelouch had revealed to him that Euphemia, whom he had believed to be dead, was in fact alive, and that he would be able to meet her. Everything that happened after he had learned this went by in a blur of sorts: He realized what was going on around him, but his mind revolved around Euphemia and only Euphemia. Suzaku had barely been able to focus on the mysterious European State Alchemists, the flight back to Tokyo, or the Black Knights taking him to the place where Lelouch wanted to keep him for the time being – his own apartment, the one place that could be called a home for Lelouch.

Despite this, however, there were still a number of things that got through to Suzaku, things that managed to burn themselves into his upset mind.  
The alchemists puzzling even Lelouch.  
The weird European Knightmare Frames.  
Lelouch's reconciliatory behaviour towards him.  
The expressions of hatred on the faces of the Black Knights that took Suzaku to his 'prison'...

Out of these things, what puzzled Suzaku the most was how the Black Knights had reacted to his presence: They might be on different sides, and may have different approaches for making Japan a better place, but Suzaku had always been under the impression that the average Black Knight at least somewhat understood him, that it was only a matter of being shown that the relation between Japanese and Britannians could be improved without the violence that kept them in the Order of the Black Knights.

Had he really been wrong about this all along?

Were the Japanese and the Britannians really too far apart by now for a peaceful solution of the conflict even being possible?

After the opening ceremony of the SAZ had turned into a massacre, it would not surprise him.

But that was Lelouch's fault. It just HAD to be his fault – with his accursed Geass, he must have done something with Andreas Darlton and the soldiers there. It simply couldn't be that they would willingly commit such an atrocity when a peaceful solution was so close. Lelouch must have had something to do with it, and Suzaku would make sure to find out what it was.

But then what?

Even if it did turn out that this massacre was somehow his fault, there was nothing that Suzaku could do about it. He was in no position to punish him or anything, and the only thing that Lelouch had promised him was that he would get to meet Euphemia, nothing beyond that. He might just as well decide not to face Suzaku at all, instead locking him up somewhere for the rest of his life, or just having him executed.

As a matter of fact, Lelouch never even specified when he would let Suzaku meet Euphemia – he didn't even have any evidence for her being alive, other than Lelouch's word. All he could really do for the time being was sit around and wait until Lelouch decided to do something with him. Suzaku had already considered just escaping from the rooms that he was kept in through the windows to search for Euphemia himself, but he had already dismissed that possibility. By now, the academy grounds were crawling with soldiers of the Black Knights, who would most likely shoot him before he could even settle on where to search for her. Though perhaps, it was not that hopeless...

Suzaku was already about to reconsider the possibility of leaving the apartment through the window, when he suddenly voices on the other side of the door. Somebody was talking to the soldiers that guarded the apartment. And after only a few words that Suzaku couldn't make out, the door opened, and through it entered Lelouch, still wearing his full Zero costume, and closely followed by the green-haired girl that him and Suzaku had found in Shinjuku so long ago.

Right after entering the room, Zero turned towards the soldiers, giving them a quick order. "Do not enter this room until I specifically call for you, and don't let anyone else in unless I give permission. Now leave us alone."

Without any questions, the Black Knights followed the orders, leaving only Suzaku, Zero and the green-haired girl in the room. The moment as the door was closed, Zero removed the mask from his head, revealing a very tired-looking Lelouch underneath, the Geass still glowing in his left eye.

"You look terrible." Suzaku said, unable to come up with any better way to start the conversation. There were so many things he wanted to ask, that he wanted to know, and yet, he didn't know how to ask for them, how to bring them up – or if he really wanted to know them.

"I have been awake for over tenty-four hours now. And besides," he retorted in a nonchalant tone "You honestly don't look much better."

Since Suzaku had not looked into any mirror for hours now, he assumed that his restlessness showed itself on his face. "Just cut out the small talk already, Lelouch. What is it with Euphemia?"

Instead of giving a direct answer, Lelouch took a deep breath, and reached into one of his costume's pockets, pulling a gun out of it. Suzaku tensed.

"Just a safety measure. I don't quite trust yet, but believe me, I would very much prefer not having to make use of this." He said, taking a seat at the table, with the green-haired girl sitting down next to him. In response, Suzaku only grunted, and followed suit, sitting down on the opposite side of Lelouch. "Now, to get back to your question: Euphemia is fine. She is still asleep, since she has to recover from that she got from Darlton shooting her. It might take some time, but she will definitely make it."

The way Lelouch said these things, in a matter-of-fact tone and without hesitation, while not entirely eliminating Suzaku's suspicions in regards to Euphemia being alive at all, still managed to lower them. Despite this, Suzaku let out a grunt. "Darlton, huh? The man you forced to shoot Euphemia with your Geass, right?"

"...Yes. I did order Andreas Darlton to shoot Euphemia." He replied reluctantly.

While Suzaku had already expected such an answer, hearing his former friend openly admit that he was the cause of this all still got him agitated. "Oh, of course! How else could it have been! But why, Lelouch? Euphemia offered you a peaceful solution! A way to end it out without any further bloodshed! And what did you do? You trampled her offer, made the entire world believe that she is dead, and had the Britannians commit a massacre worse than anything they have ever done! I really was right when I called you nothing but a liar. Is there anybody who you are honest with? Answer me, Lelouch!"

At first, Lelouch just listened to Suzaku's outburst with a regretful, perhaps even guilty expression. But when Suzaku started talking about Euphemia's offer, his expression changed, and he too got agitated. "Do not act like you know it all, Suzaku! What happened with Euphemia was an accident. I did nothing more than make the best out of it! Andreas Darlton causing more bloodshed was nothing but an unexpected side effect."

If these words were meant to calm him down, to make him understand Lelouch's point, they had quite the opposite effect. "An accident? A side effect? What are you talking about?! Hundreds of people died, just because you had to use your Geass at a point where it was not necessary! I don't see how any of this can be an accident!"

Before Lelouch could however give an answer himself, another voice spoke up. "During his private meeting with the princess, Lelouch lost control of his Geass. It evolved, and became permanently active, which he did not realize until he had accidentally given an order to Euphemia."

Suzaku turned his head to Lelouch's left side, where the green-haired girl was still sitting next to him. It was her who had spoken, after she had until now only quietly observed the two former friends. In their heated conversation, Suzaku had completely forgotten that she was even there. "How do you know this? Who are you, anyway?"

"You may call me C.C.. I am the person who made a contract with Lelouch, giving him his Geass. I am his accomplice." She spoke in an emotionless tone.

"Oh... I suppose that explains why you were with him all the time. But why should I believe anything of what you just said? This could as well just be just another one of Lelouch's lies, only with you playing along. Can you prove what you said?" Even though C.C. speaking up in Lelouch's favour did make Suzaku less agitated, the knight still wasn't willing to believe Lelouch so easily.

"Proof?" Lelouch chuckled. "Proof I cannot give you. I can, however, remind you of something. Do you remember Mao? Like me, he was a Geass user. His ability was to read the mind of every person within a 500 meter radius, and he had already long since lost control of it. The Geass symbol permanently showed itself in both of his eyes, and he couldn't turn it off anymore. And now... I have become like him. I can't turn deactivate it anymore. By the time that I realized this, it was already too late, and I had given Euphemia an order that I had never meant to give her."

Suzaku remained silent. He did remember Mao: That bizarre white-haired guy with the weird eyes, who had kidnapped Nunnally, somehow beaten Lelouch in chess, and revealed that Suzaku had killed his own father... at the time, Suzaku had done his best to ignore his words, to forget the entire incident. Being so suddenly reminded of what Suzaku considered his greatest sin was not something that he did not enjoy looking back too. But in the light of Lelouch's explanation, the entire incident made at least some sense. It was not a proof like Suzaku had asked for, but it did make C.C.'s claim more believable. "Then... what was the order you gave Euphemia? And why didn't you just give her another order to cancel out the first one?"

Lelouch snorted. "Seems like whoever the person was that told you about my Geass, they left out one important little detail: It only works once per person. Once an order is given, I have absolutely no way of undoing it. If I could do either of these things, then we probably wouldn't even be here."

"You can't?" Suzaku inquired, leaning a bit closer.

"Obviously. Otherwise, when I had told you to 'not talk like you know it all' earlier, it would have been an order you had to follow as well." Lelouch said, not without a bit of sarcasm in his voice. Suzaku had to admit that he was right. During their entire conversation so far, he had looked into his eyes, having almost forgotten how the Geass even worked. "My order to Euphemia was for her to fake her own death, and go into hiding like I did. When Andreas Darlton interrupted us, I had to come up with a plan to make the best out of the situation – you know the rest."

"But... what about the rest of the soldiers in the stadium? Are you telling me they did this... all out of their own will?"

"The only people I used my Geass on aside from Euphie and Darlton were two guards." With just these words, Lelouch took away the last straw that Suzaku was holding onto. As the realization of what Lelouch's words meant struck him, he began to shiver.

Lelouch was not without fault in regards to the massacre at the SAZ – but at the same time, what caused the death of all the Japanese had been outside of his control. Andreas Darlton reminding the soldiers of Britannia's supposed superiority, two soldiers agreeing with him; that was all that it took for the Britannians to cause bloodshed worse than anything that Britannia had ever committed in Japan. Even their loyalty towards the royal family did not matter anymore when Darlton had pointed out that what Euphemia was doing went against the entire Britannian ideology. Euphemia and the Japanese had dared to question Britannia's pride, so they had to be eliminated, that's how simple it had been for these men.

Suzaku was in denial. Believing in Lelouch's fault had been his last resort, his very last attempt to justify his own methods, and now it had been taken away. Surely, not all of Britannia could be like this? There simply had to be people who like Suzaku or Euphemia believed Britannians and numbers could peacefully live together. What about the students at Ashford? What about Lloyd and Cecile?

But as Suzaku thought about the Britannians who were accepting of numbers, he realized that the problem was not that these people did not exist: It was moreso the problem that these people simply did not have the kind of power to make a change. The only person who did hold the power necessary for that was Euphemia, who the entire world believed to be dead. Andreas Darlton, Guilford and second princess Cornelia might be at least somewhat accepting of numbers – but the entire rest of the military was not. They all whole-heartedly believed in Britannia's ideology.

Lelouch seemed to have realized what Suzaku was thinking about, as he continued Suzaku's thoughts in just the direction that he was not willing to go into. "This really shouldn't surprise you, Suzaku. Remember when we first met after all those years? The very division that you were part off was tasked to kill me, a civilian with– at that time– no clear connections to any terrorist group or anything. And when you disobeyed, the commander attempted to kill you for insubordination, and had he succeeded, no one would have punished him for it. Hell, I'm pretty sure that he could have killed any number of civilians he liked, be they Britannian or Japanese, and he would have gotten away with it. The Britannian law is nothing more than a tool to allow those with power to exploit those without it, no matter if they are numbers, or average Britannian civilians. You heard my father during Clovis' funeral: 'All men are not created equal'. Suzaku, there simply is no way that you as an 'Eleven' can change a nation that I built upon this ideology from within! The entire honorary Britannian system only exists to create an illusion of equality to those that naïve enough to believe it. Overcoming an evil like that cannot simply be done with only optimistic words and a passive attitude like you attempted. No, against Britannia you cannot be passive. Against this nation, you need to fight, no matter the means!"

"But – you too have caused the deaths of countless innocent people! What about Narita? What about Shirley's father?! You've seen it, Lelouch, you were with me at the funeral! Just like him, there were hundreds, no, thousands of other innocent people who had no part in your fight! The all had friends, family, loved ones, people that they lost due to your fighting! What about them?" Suzaku interjected, making one last, desperate attempt to justify himself.

"Yes, I did do this. So what? This is war, Suzaku! Of course there are innocent people who get caught up in fights and get killed, but if I grieve every single one of them, or let it shake my resolve, then I will never succeed in destroying Britannia! I do admit that the death of Shirley's father was what made me realize what this truly meant, but for Nunnally's sake, and the sake of the Japanese people, I cannot turn back! I must continue walking down this path, to destroy this world, and create a kinder, gentler world! I believe it is a bit like these alchemists said: In order to gain something new, something of equal value must be lost first. The same applies here. In order to change the world, the world as it is must be destroyed, no matter the methods."

After that, Suzaku said nothing, and instead looked down on the table in front of him. As much as he hated to admit it, Lelouch had made valid points. He could try to deny it all he wanted, but the fact remained that slowly but surely, Suzaku realized that Lelouch was right – that he had been right all along. And as if to put the final nail into the coffin, Lelouch spoke up once more: "Suzaku... you must know: Despite everything that has happened between us, despite what the situation is now, I still consider you my friend. The reason I never used my Geass on you to make you join me is that I wanted you to join me because you wanted to, not because I forced you to."

Suzaku raised his head again, looking into Lelouch's face. There was not a hint of a lie, or anything that implied that he was attempting to deceive Suzaku in his expression: It was nothing more than the expression of a concerned friend. After silently looking at Lelouch for about a minute, Suzaku finally spoke up again. "...Can you... give me any evidence that Euphemia is still alive?"

Lelouch smiled. "Sure. Just follow me." And with that, he stood up, and made his way towards his own room, where he started up his computer. Once it was running, Lelouch somehow set up a connection to the school's security camera system, and only a few clicks later, the computer screen showed Euphemia, lying on her sickbed. Her eyes were closed, but she was clearly alive, breathing.

Seeing this, Suzaku could do little more than just stare, and try to hold back his tears. He had thought that he had lost Euphemia forever, and yet, here she was, clearly alive, almost as if the entire last day had been nothing but a bad dream, as if everything was still alright.

"So, Suzaku... now what?"

Rather unwillingly, Suzaku forced himself to look away from the screen, and into Lelouch's – his friend's face. After a bit of hesitation, he then finally found the right words. "Lelouch... I don't agree with your methods. I think I never will. But I think I begin to understand now why you resort to them. I won't join you, but I will work together for the time being. A truce, if you will. I do have my conditions, though..."

* * *

-7-

* * *

**Berlin  
Great Germany  
September 2nd, 1962 AD / 2017 a.t.b.  
20:01 PM, Local Time**

"_Area 11, Britannia. According to recent reports, the Japanese resistance group known _"Order of the Black Knights" _has gained the upper hand in their fight against the Britannian forces under Second Imperial Princess and Governor-General Cornelia li Britannia, whose troops are all but defeated by now._ _Unconfirmed reports claim that the _Black Knights _have received aid from another intervening group calling themselves the _"Karminrote Sieben"_. Footage from the Area is currently scarce, and limited to a few photographs which will exclusively be shown here."_

It was a late summer evening in Berlin. The weather had been good for the last few days, and as such, a big crowd had gathered on a plaza near Central Command to watch the official news broadcast on a big screen on a building.

The entire crowd shared the same emotions in regards to the announcement: Surprise, coupled with a feeling of satisfaction. While officially, the EU was at peace with Britannia, neither its citizens nor its politicians even tried to hide the fact they disliked Britannia in just about every non-official situation. As such, the people were glad to hear about any sort of development that would somehow damage Britannia, such as the now very possible liberation of Area 11.

Standing just outside the crowd at the entrance to a dark and remote side alley was a man who did not seem to share any of the excitement that was going on. The man's face was impossible to make out, due to it being obscured by the light brown hood that he was wearing. The man was, as a matter of fact, about to turn around and leave the place, when the broadcast switched from the news anchor talking to a photograph that showed one of the supposed terrorists that had appeared to aid the Black Knights in Japan.

Trying get a better look at the picture, the man raised his head just enough as for any possible observer to see his face – though not much of it. Anything that a possible observer would have been able to see was that the man had tan skin, white hair, was wearing sunglasses, and had a big, X-shaped scar spreading across the center of his face, which currently was twisted with shock and rage.

The man could simply not believe his eyes. He had just seen a face that he had only seen once in his entire life – and even that was already several years ago – but that still to this very day haunted him in his nightmares. Even more abruptly than he almost did it a moment ago, the man now turned around, and quickly walked into the dark alley. It was just the kind of alleyway where one would expect to run into people like him: Thugs, homeless people, drug addicts – or people who simply preferred to remain unseen.

His target was only a few meters further into the alley: Another man sitting next to a garbage container, and in front of a fire burning in a cask, while roasting something that looked suspiciously like a frog on a stick. Like the man who was making his way towards him, he was wearing a light brown, worn-down hood. Unlike him however, he had pale skin, black hair, a slightly aristocratic-looking face, a thin, long moustache, and was a good bit shorter than the other man.

As he noticed the scar-faced man approaching him, the short man immediately jumped up.

"M-Master! You're already back?" He began to stutter in a submissive tone.

"Put out that fire. We're leaving." The scar-faced man said, ignoring the other's behaviour.

"W-What? Where are we leaving for, master?"

"We're going to Japan."

* * *

-7-

* * *

Family bonds are strong – stronger than Lelouch had expected. A different choice of words has caused an unexpected interference, and now it might gain Zero an ally that he never thought he would gain.  
Next time, Code Geass: The Alchemists of the EU – Schwester.  
Did she really always care?

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**Thought that Dante being there automatically meant that this was a crossover with the 2003 FMA anime? Think again, because Olivier Mira Armstrong and Yoki travelling with Scar say "no" to that. So, just to be clear: Characters will definitely not tell you whether this is a crossover with the manga or the 2003 anime. No, the mechanics behind alchemy and things like that will do that – and quite obviously, I won't get to those for a while.

There's also something of interest to note in regards to the fight scene between Cornelia and Armstrong, as well as the scene about the Chinese Fleet: Originally, there wasn't even going to be a fight between Armstrong and Cornelia. He would instead have just taken her out, since she didn't know what alchemy was, and therefore didn't expect him to be able to pull up a fight. It's thanks to two of my friends that I now like Cornelia a whole lot more than I did back when I first started writing this chapter, and that now, she actually puts up a fight.  
The thing to note about the scene with the Chinese Fleet is that I originally intended that battle to be resolved in this chapter already - I ultimately decided against that, since it would have made the chapter too long.

Now, one last thing that I should note: Some of my more critical potential readers will most likely think that the conflict between Lelouch and Suzaku is getting resolved to quickly – and I agree. What you need however to keep in mind is that like I said in my notes in the beginning of the chapter, I want most of the conflict between the CG characters to be resolved as quickly as possible. While this probably doesn't exactly make the conclusion any better, I hope that it very least makes it more acceptable.


End file.
